Quote:
Originally Posted by retro_orange
On this forum it's an informal 'slang' word for panels that span an area of the facade (spanning panel = spandrel). It has become so prevalent because these metal/glass panels are often ugly/bland vast areas of new buildings that define 'cheap and quick architecture' that will inevitably become problematic as they age. We needed a word to quickly refer to this issue.
Shrinking seals and corrosion of screws, rivets and brackets will inevitably mean these vast areas will be replaced in 20-40 years at great expense.
I will be around then and shaking my head, remembering the previous leaky condo debacle.  |
It's not just on this forum that it's used that way but even in architecture and construction industries (where I work) it's used that way (at least informally).
It's a term that has over time come to be used as a generic to refer to a certain thing, which may not be the technically correct or accurate way of doing it but which nonetheless has caught on in common parlance.
Expecting people to use the correct technical term in the correct technical usage in an informal forum and setting such as this, when even in the industries where it's used, they're not that anal or super-technical about it, is a little bit more than silly IMHO.
But to each their own, I guess.
When you say "spandrel" in a setting such as this most people know what you're referring to, and at the end of the day isn't the whole point in communicating getting your point across?
But that's just me.
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