Sanjeev Tankha, AIA
Lecturer
Master of Building Science, University of Southern California Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India.
Sanjeev Tankha brings over 28 years of experience in advanced building technology design and construction with a focus in Facades and Specialty Structures. Sanjeev has led the design and construction of facades for several large aviation, sports, commercial, hospitality and civic projects in the US and around the world and is seen as a Subject Matter Expert in high transparency facade systems and specialty structures systems focusing on cables and tension membranes. He has lectured in national and international conferences on facade technology and the ever evolving facade design and engineering practice. Sanjeev has been involved in developing and teaching facades related courses at USC and Sci Arch. His research interests focus on Facades industry best practices on procurement practices and the developing embodied carbon studies for façade systems. Sanjeev is also a member of the Façade Tectonics Institute’s Strategic Advisory Committee.
Sanjeev Tankha is a Partner at STARQ inc., a boutique multi disciplinary Architecture, Design and Building Technology Studio based in Irvine, California and is a licensed architect in the state of California.
He has a Masters degree in Building Science from the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture, Los Angeles and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India.
- 572Advanced Building Skins: Designing High Performance FaçadesAdvanced Building Skins: Designing High Performance Façades
This course will concentrate on providing students with a fundamental technical skillset applicable to the design and delivery of high-performance façade systems. The predominant focus will be the design of contemporary glazed curtainwalls and rainscreen systems in their many forms.
The building façade system uniquely combines elements of performance and architectural expression like nothing else in architecture. It is a highly complex system that requires a detailed and comprehensive exploration of myriad, often competing, variables that converge at the building skin. Increasingly, architectural practice demands expert knowledge of the complexities of the façade system to realize building performance and budget goals. The façade system plays a defining role in a building’s appearance, a pivotal role in resilience and sustainability outcomes, and is critical to the health, wellness and productivity of building occupants. In addition, it typically represents 15-25% of a project’s construction budget. Façade system skills are vital for the successful practice of architecture in producing healthy, cost-effective, resilient and sustainable buildings and urban habitat.
This course intends to provide the student this basic skillset, including the fundamental building physics and performance criteria that each façade system design must accommodate involving the performative behaviors of thermal mechanics, water vapor and air transport in various materials, moisture and condensation management, and airflow and rainwater control. The course content will familiarize the student with the basic building physics, tools and techniques required to successfully design and deliver a responsive high-performance façade system. Upon completion of this class, students will be able to develop façade system performance parameters for a given project, explore materials that meet the prescribed parameters, and develop a basic façade system design and details of construction to realize the design aspirations and technical requirements of the project.