''La fachada no sólo comunica una imagen: cumple más funciones importantes que cualquier otra parte del edificio''
''The façade not only communicates an image: it fulfills more important functions than any other part of the building.''
Ana Sánchez-Ostiz, Professor of Architecture at the University of Navarra, has published a book on building facades and enclosures.
"The main image we perceive of a building is the one conveyed by its façade through its shape, the composition of its openings or the cladding material. However, the vertical envelope does not only serve to communicate an image: it probably fulfills more important functions than any other part of the building". So says Ana Sánchez-Ostiz, professor at the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra and director of the Master's Degree in design and management Environmental of Buildings, who has just published the book Fachadas. Building envelopes.
The book is the result of five years of work and is the continuation of 'Cerramientos de edificios. Cubiertas', the first edition of which was published in 2002 and the second in 2007. This new publication has been prefaced by Alberto Campo Baeza, Full Professor of Projects of the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, who emphasizes that Issue "does not so much describe facades, but analyzes them and teaches how to build them well. How to build them and to know the problems to be solved, and how to solve them".
Typologies of facades and components
Throughout its more than 900 pages, structured in 8 chapters, the Issue gathers the typologies of facades, the main components with which to solve each one of them and the singular points, "so that they serve for an adequate definition and constructive resolution", explains the author.
Some of the topics addressed are the requirements that building facades must meet, the criteria of design and new technologies for opaque and translucent vertical enclosures, exterior carpentry, solar and visual protection systems, and the pathology and rehabilitation of facades, among other issues.
Ana Sánchez-Ostiz is an architect (1986), Doctor of Architecture (1993) and Master's Degree of Building (1993) from the University of Navarra, where she is full professor of Architectural Constructions and director of Master's Degree in design and management Environmental Building. She combines her activity professor and research with the liberal practice of her profession: she has carried out projects in Navarra, Valladolid and La Rioja.
In addition to the two books mentioned above, she is co-author of 20 specialized volumes and has published several technical articles. Moreover, she has directed several works of research in Spain and has co-directed one for the European Union. She is currently participating in the project of research EUROINNOVA-CONCLIMAT: "Industrialization of cost-optimized bioclimatic housing" and directs the project "Analysis, technical diagnosis and energy efficiency of housing developments of VINSA (Viviendas Públicas de Navarra)". He also lectures at national and international courses and conferences.