TENSIWALL Chiu, Mark A. A facade is the interface between building and environment, between indoor and outdoor; therefore it has a functional quality – protection of the interior spaces, inhabitants, and services from the forces of the exterior surrounding environment. The facade is also the first component to be seen of any building; therefore it has a certain aesthetic quality that it needs to achieve. Currently, most facades are constructed of relatively heavy materials, requiring more structural material usage; and opaque materials, depriving the interior occupants of natural light. A textile facade, however, can provide a lightweight, lighttransmissive, and highly insulative exterior wall, while also offering versatility in the aesthetics. Although they are usually not considered to be a facade material, textiles can create a highly advanced alternative to the current facade solutions. Therefore, the thesis topic is to develop a future exterior wall system with advanced physical properties based on a textile facade. M.S. in Architecture, December 2011 Sobek, Werner 2011-12-10 2011-12 Thesis application/pdf islandora:8837 http://hdl.handle.net/10560/2597 ARCH / Architecture Illinois Institute of Technology en In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/ Restricted Access