Despite their promise, applying industrial principles, mechanisation, factory production, repetition and componentisation to architecture became predominantly an exercise in representation. Few architects actually fulfilled the potentials of Fordisms or Taylorisms to revolutionize building construction. A specific area of building construction where industrialisation has been applied successfully is in curtain wall façade elements. Unitized, panelized or skeletal repetitive elements are produced in a factory and assembled into a framework into or onto which glass or spandrel panels are inserted to create a lightweight skin to be suspended from any structural system. The curtain wall’s commercial and globalized use became the symbol of the international style. Experiments in engineering curtain walls go back to early experiments in window walls, skylights and the development of conservatory buildings; the Crystal Palace being the most famous.
Maison du Peuple de Clichy (1936-39) developed in a suburb of Paris (Clichy-la-Garenne) elucidates early experimentation with «cobbled» curtain wall elements. Architects Beudoin and Lods enlisted designer, producer and master industrialist Jean Prouvé to design and fabricate most of the building's façade and structural components. In an open, transformable and adaptable plan the multi-use building housed cultural and community activities all under one roof. The interior could be transformed from an open covered clustering of market stalls into a grand hall for festivals or gatherings. Standardized steel components made it possible to completely transform the interior of the building in just a few hours.
The building’s innovative envelope included standardized folded metal plates shaped to house glass or metal skin panels. An ancestor of current curtain wall systems Prouvé’s interpretation uses the folded metal plates, a series of curved interior and exterior mullion elements, to sandwich metal, glass or any other material into a panelized lightweight surface. The rigorous 1m grid used by Prouvé in many of his projects allows for efficient batch production for mullions, glass and metal elements. Clear corrugated acrylic translucent panels (Rhodoid) inserted within the same system diffuse lighting by day and create a light box effect at night. Operable, moveable skylights on the roof amplify the open-air market character of the multi-use space. Slated to be remodelled with a new urban multi-use tower in 2017, the Maison du Peuple remains a master class in modern and industrial curtain wall principles.
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| curtain wall sketch |
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