Exterior Walls and its complexity

 

Exterior walls primarily  behave almost as a control for the site or the design. Being external there is the issue of exposure and structural requirements, primarily. Beyond the basic  requirements come other requirements such as protection which then sends the topic into multiple “safety issues”; fireproofing, entry deterrent,public/private separation, legal demarcation of property,  structural integrity.

But through these  Thiis-Evensen  in his  archetypes  treatise, “a wall  “delimits” and “supports” the roof”. There then is an extension of an occupant to a located building/house  provided these have walls. For without a wall vertical extensions cannot be made possible structurally. Let alone the outermost or primary wall, external be the initial build prior to any structure within the said walls.

To delimit can mean many things.. prevention, protection, political lines but to delimit from the occupants point of view can alter their living condition in that space. Exterior walls then become not only  components but as living components to the program for which any design is made for.

A wall can  connote meaning by its very form and structure.  A high wall can express privacy or imprisonment. a small wall can be an inviting wall. A picket fence is a friendly demarcation line which if its owners are threatened can be turned into a massive keep out wall.

As such even with its archetypes there is still the actual process of building the component and allowing it to withstand gravity.

for this, glossing over the details any exterior wall can  be seen from its archetype or its basic mechanical use which even then meaning for mechanical purposes validate protection.