An analysis of building enclosure's tectonic arrangement change in high rise buildings

Gottfried Semper, one of the most important theoreticians of the 19th century, classified 4 main architectural elements as enclosing membrane, hearth, framework (roofwork) and earthwork(mound). In his books ?The Four Elements of Architecture? and ?Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts or Practical Aesthetics?, Semper?s ?dressing theory? claimed that the braided or woven textile hung on the structure was transformed into building enclosure in time. Emphasizing this analogical relation between building enclosure and woven textile, Semper defined architecture as construction dependent on material and weaving technique applied on building enclosure. Considering the tendencies in contemporary architectural practice mainly focused on current materials and construction techniques in building enclosure, this interesting theory?s validity and the change in building enclosure?s tectonic arrangement should be reconsidered in view of 20th century architecture. The objective of this thesis was to prove the validity and readability of Gottfried Semper?s ?dressing theory? in practice of 20th century architecture. High rise buildings, which represent the constructional qualities of a specific period in the most effective way, were classified according to changing material - component characteristics and techniques in 3 main periods; `After industrial revolution?, `Modern? and `Late Modern?. The high rise buildings representing these periods were chosen as case studies of this thesis. The method applied in this thesis was analysis of the tectonic arrangement of the examples by relating building enclosure with weaving archetype analogically over ?analysis model?, then assessment on ?evaluation model?. Through the study conducted on these examples, it was concluded that variation in tectonic arrangement mainly rely on primitive weaving techniques and Gottfried Semper?s theory is still valid in 20th century.