The Envelope: Who Knew?

The idea of a facade being so influential in politics or society is a point I never regarded until now. Throughout school, I have put so much emphasis in my education for the building, site, interior, ergonomics, culture, context, etc. Yet, the facade is the first statement a patron sees when experiencing architecture.

So much of our architectural history is placed on star architects and their projects with astronomical budgets. These projects leave little to no relevance for cultural education or approachable realities for people to encounter. However, I believe this is where architecture can be used for engaging and challenging people to see our relevance and necessity in todays time. 

Take Zaha Hadid's Guangzhou Opera for example. 

The facade is merely an extension of the interior. This allows full interaction from interior to the exterior. 

I believe we should look at more than just the exterior of a building and how it was constructed if we are to critique and learn from these "star" buildings.