Steel frames and modernism

Beauty in buildings comes in many forms. At Superpod^®, we believe that to achieve true beauty in architecture, the form should follow the function.

That means that you create a beautiful shape or form by starting with the function of that element. You don’t hide that element with camouflage and decoration. This ethos of “Form follows Function”, an essential part of modernism, has been embedded in the work of many great architects, such as Mies van der Rohe, who famously said “Less is More”.

If you design so that the form follows the function, you are designing honestly, with integrity.

A frame’s function is to hold up a building. It has a structural function.

Usually we hide the structural frames in our buildings. We put them together a little messily, and we don’t care, because we know we are going to hide them with brick on the outside and plaster on the inside.

At Superpod^® we decided to embrace and celebrate the structural frame of our podhouses^® and Superpod^® designs. We decided to commission a beautiful frame that will be seen. The term used in the steel industry is an expressed steel frame. Or an exposed steel frame.

Our steel frame is visible on the inside of the building, and will be used for various things besides structural support, as part of the workings of the building. So we have created more than one function out of the frame.

For example, the steel frame is used for windows and doors, like those on Bespoke Doors. Without any other framing.

And it is used for wiring.

And it can be used for internal linings which are optional.

Or to hang pictures from.

You will see the function of the frame, while you admire its beauty. There’s something truly satisfying about this sort of transparency.