UNIVERSIDAD SIMÓN BOLÍVAR English for Architecture and Urban Planning II – ID2-125 January – March 2012 Teacher: Marianela Najul. By: Fabiana Castillo Joalbert Vetancourt

Definition Definition Wall in Architecture Wall in Architecture Characteristics Characteristics Types Types Examples Examples

“Wall" is derived from Latin “Vallum”, which was a type of fortification wall. Since they are no longer relevant for defense, such cities have grown beyond their walls. A wall is a vertical structure, usually solid, that defines and sometimes protects an area. There are three principal types of structural walls: building walls, exterior boundary walls, and retaining walls.

SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTURAL ROLE Structure plays a significant architectural role and the structural elements of a building (the walls, the frame, the foundation) are the parts that hold it together, as opposed to elements that enclose or decorate it. STRUCTURE ENRICHES ARCHITECTURE There are a surprisingly large number of modes by which structure enriches architecture the most important being to assist the realization of the design concept ONE OF THE FIRST ARCHITECTURE’S ELEMENTS In the other hand, the emergence of architecture is associated with the idea of shelter, which predominates in primitive societies. In this way, maybe, the wall is one of the first elements of architecture from ancient times to the protection of man.

Form is usually prismatic horizontal and vertical. Built with different materials. Texture depending on the material used. Walls, in all likelihood, will also be carefully integrated with building function. Since its inception, the walls were used to define spaces without the need for other elements, to separate the interior from exterior, to shelter the man from the nature. However, in antiquity, the walls are also used to prevent land invasions and make separations.

STRUCTURAL WALL SYSTEM Those are wall systems built to support loads. Some are pre-manufactured in controlled environments, and others are constructed on site. PARTITION WALL Wall for the purpose of separating or dividing rooms. Partition walls are usually not load-bearing. May also be constructed from concrete, including pre-cast concrete blocks, drywall or varieties of glass. RETAINING WALL Retaining walls are a special type of wall that may be either external to a building or part of a building that serves to provide a barrier to the movement of earth, stone or water. SHARED WALL Special laws often govern walls shared by neighboring properties. Typically, one neighbor cannot alter the common wall if it is likely to affect the building or property on the other side. According to their function, walls can be classified into:

The examples about the use of the walls in the buildings are million and each architect used it in different ways. However, there are two significant examples where the walls are absolutely important. Those are: GILARDI HOUSEGERMAN PAVILION

The layout gradually discovers the spaces through light filters leading the visitor through an exciting corridor where a series of narrow windows are interspersed with wall fractions resulting in a composition made from wall and light. GILARDI HOUSE,1976 Luis Barragán. The tour of the spaces is guided by the size of the areas and the modulation of light, so the walls are a very important element used as expressive elements walls by means of the texture, color and light’s effects.

This set of plans and perpendicular displacement taking place in the building not only define spaces, but also create flows and infinite paths that make the work more interesting. GERMAN PAVILION,1929 Mies Van Der Rohe. In the basement you can find a composition of eight columns that form a network which fulfill a structural function and freeing to the walls of this function leaving the walls as organizing elements of space.

The use that Mies Van der Rohe gives to the walls in the German Pavilion is an innovation in the use of this elements, unlike other buildings, and we could say that this is the cover which actually contains the whole, while the walls serve as the driving forces generated spaces.