"A huge increase in multidisciplinary collaborative working methods between artists and architects has brought about an exciting fusion of both fields."

-- Kirsty Brooks

The New Romantics

Architects are turning from cold steel and glass to crafty decorative facades. By Dominic Lutyens

Changes in architecture do not happen overnight, but in recent years it has been possible to discern a major new trend. Buildings with decorative facades, which recall the ornate exteriors of the 19th-century Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements, are becoming increasingly common.

Entire facades are being wrapped in materials evoking anything from seashells to ancient lacework; at night, these are sometimes backlit to theatrical effect in order, as it were, to animate them. Architects are increasingly exploring a building's potential to have expressive, softer, even human qualities. >>> Read More