Dear Gerhard,

I'm not an expert but in my opinion:

ventilation;

lighting;

decoration and adornment;

contact with the outside ...

(please correct me if I'm wrong)

Best Regards,

Vanessa

Dear Vanessa,dear Eraldo

thank you for your question and comments. If we compare in our cities, how important the window as a mediator between inside and outside, and at the same time as a design element of the façade is, significant losses arise.

In the Renaissance, Baroque and 19th century, the window arrangement was an important part of the facade design. The windows plays the "basic story" of the design and had not only the task of lighting and ventilation. It was also a jewelry element. They were part of a "story".

The "Modern architecture" banned the as excessive and dishonest perceived facade decorations. The result was a pleasantly clear and simple, almost “Calvinistic” architecture that has been ennobled with the attribute "honest"!

If you take away the stucco of a stucco facade of the 19th century, only a banal perforated facade remains. Everyone sees that in an urban environment – which is characterized by rich facade outlines, the modern architecture has not an real answer. Of course, there are examples where a modern, cubist-inspired construction accommodates an exciting and interactive environment. But these are rare exceptional cases.

The critics of Adolf Loos against the ornament "Ornament and Crime" (1908) is no longer accepted by many architects today, for example, when large facades of department stores, garages, office buildings or libraries are decorated with forms, generated in a computer. The first example that impressed me in my study time was Juan O'Gormans Central Library of the UNAM in Mexico City 1953-1956. But this quality rarely found.

What I mean is that window now often only are "holes". The German concept of "whole-facade" (Lochfassade) hits exactly this point. In order not to be misunderstood. I am not interested on the remake of stucco facades, but of an architecture in which the window is part of an architectural theme and not only a loveless opening. If I will have more time, I'll post some examples.

Gerhard