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EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY: Increasing Design Capabilities with Metal Mesh
Architect Dominque Perrault was the first to design a building using metal fabric as an architectural material. Use of the German-manufactured metal mesh product in architecture became de rigueur in the fashion capitol of the world with Perrault’s design for the French National Library in Paris.
The material continues to be one of the haute couture hits of the architectural design world and continues to innovate its attachment methods, applications, and aesthetics. But unlike fashion, this attractive building material is more than just a spectacle: Perrault first embraced GKD’s metal mesh for its fire-resistive properties that would protect the treasured book collection and subsequently demonstrated the material’s relevance and versatility to create sweeping architectural gestures.
Architectural metal mesh is a practical solution to modern building challenges such as daylighting, natural ventilation, and lighting and building identity that invites opportunities for biophilic solutions, safety and versatility, while enhancing occupants’ connections to nature in the built environment. To learn about the ever-increasing ways to turn metal mesh into a sweeping architectural statement, architects can now log on to Architectural Record’s continuing education platform to take the course, “Enhancing the Built Environment with Architectural Metal Fabric.”
Architects who complete this course will establish expertise in metal fabrics for exterior applications, including the performance benefits of semi-permeable metal membranes spanning safety, security, solar management and sustainability. An exploration of coatings and graphics technologies illustrates how to use metal fabrics in establishing unique branding or a remarkable visual signature for a building. Finally, several case studies coach architects to spot ideal applications for metal fabric; the projects illustrate exemplary specifications and installations, and how the material helps achieve top building performance.