Design evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Design evaluation - Essay Example In the United Kingdom today copper is a popular material used for facades, roofs and other external building elements on some of the most exciting modern designs. But this has not always been so. Historically, copper roofs several hun ¬dred years old can be seen on many British city skylines, although usually limited to churches, civic buildings and other important structures. During the twentieth century, copper roofs became more widely used for ordinary buildings – although many were of little architec ¬tural quality. Unfortunately, poor de ¬tailed design and installation techniques resulted in technical failures and the material fell out of fashion until the 1980s. Then, the copper industry intro ¬duced modern installation techniques to the UK – including the long-strip meth ¬od – and launched a promotional cam ¬paign to make architects aware of cop ¬per as a thoroughly modern architectural material. This ‘Copper in Architecture’ cam paign continues today.(Article by Tom Woolley in Sustain magazine, vol 3 no 3) It highlights the ability for copper sheets to be easily formed to suit any three-dimensional shape, making it a suitable weatherproof covering for virtually any external surface including roofs of all pitches, vertical cladding, gutters, soffits and even sculptural elements. Architects now recognise that it is one of the few materials that can offer complete mate ¬rial continuity and real freedom of form in architectural design.