Quote:
Originally Posted by texcolo
Now that I have your attention, here's why modernism is a fraud, well to be more precise fraudulent.
If a modern skyscraper done in the modern style is supposed to be devoid of superfluous decoration then by that account every modern skyscraper should look like the above photo as finished.
In this picture of the AON Center, does the then marble, now granite columns really do anything integral in holding the building up? No. The steel underneath sure does though. So, if you go by the axioms of modern design, forum follows function and less is more, why are the columns clad in marble? |
The cladding, whether stone, metal, or glass, serves to protect those columns from the elements and so prevent them from rusting. Could a coat of paint also have protected the steel? Probably. Could a coat of paint insulated the steel in the same way as a more sophisticated cladding system? No. In very tall steel buildings, insulating the columns is important because large changes in temperature of the columns will cause significant height change-enough so that the upper floors will be noticeably out of level to the occupants.
Why did the material used have to be white marble(which ironically couldn't withstand the weather anyway) as opposed to something else? I don't know.