The Faces of the Future

Buildings and architecture are particularly important to Humans since the beginning of times because they are constructed of durable materials that provide invaluable information about their past lifestyle social structure,and a window to their artistic sensibilities. Since the needs of housing tend to change constantly over time, there's an almost continual call for new construction and architectural forms so that enough buildings are erected or rebuilt during every age to frame and highlight the manner in which every society has evolved.

We live in an age of globalization where cities around the world are being challenged in brand new ways with a larger urban scale.Cities are not only getting bigger but they are increasingly best seen as forming parts of urban regions with complex inter-connections.More than half the world's current population live in an urban environment, and that number is expected to rise to two-thirds by 2050.The contemporary city is the arena where all of the diverse forms of communication interact leading to new forms of hybrid architecture that is breaking away from existing conceptions of surface, structure, lighting and moving imagery.Media facades are a new kind of exhibition format where screenings invites a wide audience to take part in a new interactive infrastructure.The video screen is the window onto the virtual world of digital environments, the electronic mirror that reflects us in our myriad shifting guises, and the interface to an overwhelming mass of data from which we extract the information we need to navigate the contemporary world.

As the world is increasingly aware, the visual arts are no longer confined by the semi-public space of the museum or the privacy of the studio,instead architects are getting much more imaginative in making the alliances with artists to meet new challenging needs by turning cold steel buildings to crafty decorative facades wrapped in materials evoking anything from sinuous fluorescent mesh movement to living skin modular metal flakes reflecting sunlight and allowing the building to express itself and communicate with its environment. Moreover, architects are exploring a building's potential to have expressive,even human qualities.Of course, not all building facades warrant the same amount of attention since location, function, and atmospheric conditions all play roles in determining the level of effort necessary to achieve the desired appearance.The facade of a building endures a host of enemies that attack it every day such as pollution, sunlight, water and changes in temperature. As a rule , they also have a wide range of functions which have to be fulfilled: Structures that house commercial activity, theater or shopping districts, often warrant a higher degree of cleanness than do buildings that house less public activities.The use of double skin facades, sometimes referred to as a building in a building, has gained in recent years a lot of popularity due to characteristics such as ecology, and use of natural resources. Double skin facade is a system in which two layers of glass are separated by a significant amount of air space and a second glass facade is placed in front of the first which enables the air to circulate between the cavity of the two facades, thus providing an excellent air circulation.

As media facades increasingly continue to catch the eye of architects and media planners ,outdoor video screen content has been elevated into a new visual language that is redefining outdoor communications in the urban landscape.In 2007, on the famous Strip, the city’s first media facade premiered to promote the opening of the Miracle Mile Shops, shopping and entertainment center anchored by the Planet Hollywood ,formerly the Aladdin hotel/casino.To create visual prominence ,the facade has distinguished the shopping center by a series of prism display systems, with a 25 mm pitch, that forms a media facade across the upper third of the building. The displays follow the building’s contours to completely cover the front of the building ,which faces the Strip, and the two sides that face vehicular traffic.

Another facade that combines sculpture, architecture and technology into an inviting and unique public environment is the breathtaking 7 story high glass atrium of The Comcast Corporation and Liberty Property Trust in Philadelphia .The world’s largest four millimeter LED wall is 83.3’ wide by 25.4’ high ,with 10 million pixels mounted in a seamless flat array, that provides an extremely high degree of photo-realism,five times the resolution of high-definition television.Not only does the screen integrate seamlessly into the Comcast Center as a forum for content, but at times, the content mimics the atrium’s natural wood paneling and virtually disappears.

With the Millennium Amorphic style of architecture influenced by the freedoms of computer modelling ,Media facades are blossoming in with great promise to LED-sign manufacturers, sign integrators, and urban developers, who recognize how this super sized signage enhances the urban landscape.Milan, Italy’s capital of industry is home to the Arengario Museum. Built in 1293 on the Piazza Del Duomo, the museum lies just a few steps from the gothic Duomo di Milano. The museum’s recent reconstruction created an opportunity to develop a new media mesh category.A public window into the Milanese community and culture, the facade not only posts advertising, but also showcases the city’s history and art. The shimmering wrap contrasts with the cathedral’s gothic facade, but the juxtaposition also marries tradition and commerce, Milan’s two building blocks and also reinforce Piazza del Duomo’s original function as a public gathering place.

Over the next 20 years, our towns and cities will undergo enormous change yet many of the buildings we see today will still be in use.In the future building will talk to each other and come to life upon the specifics of the electronic medium.As the human race dares to venture further out into space, we’re going to have to adapt our construction methods for large scale space travel, think space docks and other habitable satellites too insanely large for construction on this gravity well we call Earth.