amh
Active Member
To the contrary, my argument would be that the lighter mullions compromise the entire motif. The glazing will always read as darker, and is intended to read as a void against the white cladding which reads as solid. Conceptually, the frames should likewise visually recede as part of the glazing. (Ideally, as a designer sketching up this motif for the first time, I'd want there to be no visible mullions at all. It's a motif of alternating voids going up the building.)
I'd go as far as to say you don't want the horizontal awning to read as part of the precast motif so why would you do it in a matching tone? But that is a little more subjective. It compromises the rhythm and verticality of the white precast motif. Even from a great distance, the awnings read too strongly. I like to do a sort of squint test - if the frames disappear into the glass convincingly and appear as a punched void in the facade, then it's working.
I'd also argue that regardless of built context, lighter mullions / frames that just appear as anodized aluminum always look dated and cheap at this point. Yes, I understand clearly the motif here is to divide the development into the appearance of different facades that contrast with their neighbours but it doesn't have to be so explicit as to require using lighter mullions. The entire facade of that portion of the building is white precast vs. the neighbouring facade's dark cladding, it's very explicit and using a lighter colour of mullion isn't required to make the point any more obvious. My argument is that glazed areas should read as an opening or void against the rest of the building, regardless of the colour of cladding. Ideally it wouldn't have perceptible mullions at all and the glass would just read as an opening in the white facade, but obviously cost is a factor.
I know this is nitpicky and subjective but that's my take based on how I conceptualize these types of facades. (I'm a very big fan of frame motifs in facade design, alternating windows, and clean lines, so don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the facades they're doing here.)
I'd go as far as to say you don't want the horizontal awning to read as part of the precast motif so why would you do it in a matching tone? But that is a little more subjective. It compromises the rhythm and verticality of the white precast motif. Even from a great distance, the awnings read too strongly. I like to do a sort of squint test - if the frames disappear into the glass convincingly and appear as a punched void in the facade, then it's working.
I'd also argue that regardless of built context, lighter mullions / frames that just appear as anodized aluminum always look dated and cheap at this point. Yes, I understand clearly the motif here is to divide the development into the appearance of different facades that contrast with their neighbours but it doesn't have to be so explicit as to require using lighter mullions. The entire facade of that portion of the building is white precast vs. the neighbouring facade's dark cladding, it's very explicit and using a lighter colour of mullion isn't required to make the point any more obvious. My argument is that glazed areas should read as an opening or void against the rest of the building, regardless of the colour of cladding. Ideally it wouldn't have perceptible mullions at all and the glass would just read as an opening in the white facade, but obviously cost is a factor.
I know this is nitpicky and subjective but that's my take based on how I conceptualize these types of facades. (I'm a very big fan of frame motifs in facade design, alternating windows, and clean lines, so don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the facades they're doing here.)
