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False front
Architectural feature From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In architecture, the false front (also false facade, flying facade, screen wall) is a façade designed to disguise the true characteristics of a building, usually to beautify it.[1][2][3] The architectural design and purposes of these wall-like[4] features vary:
- making a building appear larger, more important, and better-built, like in the Western false front architecture,[5] German Blendfassaden (lit. 'blind facades') or Brick Gothic main facades (Schaufassaden, lit. 'show facades'). Some sources also use the term screen facade when discussing the Medieval and Renaissance churches,[6][7] not to be confused with the modern "membrane" screen facade;
- creating a fake appearance to improve aesthetics, an architectural equivalent of trompe-l'oeil;[8]
- in facadism, keeping the old facades with the goal of preserving the visual character of a historical neighborhood while allowing an entirely modern design of the actual buildings. In the view of preservationists, this creates a "Disneyland of false fronts"; [9]
- deliberate violation of the truth to materials principle ("false in material")[5] for economical, insulation, or aesthetic purposes, like masonry veneer using a non-structural outer layer of stone[10] or a membrane screen facade;
- hiding a gable roof, like a tall parapet wall;[11]
- a purely decorative way to increase height, like the one of a roof comb, a flat structure that tops buildings in Mesoamerican architecture. Sometimes the comb was shifted from the center of the roof to one of the walls, forming a flying facade.[12]


Tradition of "show facades" goes back to the very beginnings of the architecture, when the simplest buildings might have just one opening serving both as a door and a window. The special role of the wall with this opening was stressed through articulation and decoration.[13]
Outside of architecture, "false front" is used to describe a deceptive outward appearance in general,[14] false hair in front (like bangs).[15]
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Facadism

Facadism, façadism (also pejorative facadectomy, façadomy[16])[17] is the architectural and construction practice where the facade of a building is designed or constructed separately from the rest of a building, or when only the facade of a building is preserved with new buildings erected behind or around it.
There are aesthetic and historical reasons for preserving building facades. Facadism can be the response to the interiors of a building becoming unusable, such as being damaged by fire. In developing areas, however, the practice is sometimes used by property developers seeking to redevelop a site as a compromise with preservationists who wish to preserve buildings of historical or aesthetic interest. It can be regarded as a compromise between historic preservation and demolition and thus has been lauded as well as decried.[citation needed]Remove ads
Show facades

In the Brick Gothic,[citation needed] the Schaufassaden (lit. 'show facades',[18] display facades), the facades facing the main street, were richly decorated and frequently concealed the cross-section structure of the building.[19]
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Western false front architecture
Western false front architecture or false front commercial architecture is a type of commercial architecture used in the Old West of the United States. Often used on two-story buildings, the style includes a false front facade often hiding a gable roof.
The goal for buildings in this style is to project an image of stability and success, while in fact a business owner may not have invested much in a building that might be temporary. By emulating the rectangular profile of buildings in eastern North American cities, the style attempted to lend a more settled, urban feel to small frontier towns.[20]
- the front façade of the building "rises to form a parapet (upper wall) which hides most or nearly all of the roof"
- the roof "is almost always a front gable, though gambrel and bowed roofs are occasionally found"
- "a better grade of materials is often used on the façade than on the sides or rear of the building" and
- "the façade exhibits greater ornamentation than do the other sides of the building."[21]
See also
- Fake building, an urban-building-like shell housing unsightly machinery
- Westwork, a structural element that also presents a show facade
- Rood screen and iconostasis, internal decorative walls in church
- Stepped gable, Dutch gable, and clock gable, designs at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building projecting above the roofline
- Bell-gable, a wall extension in the church in lieue of the bell tower
- Potemkin village, the use of structures to make the grim reality appear better
- Cladding (construction), a thin layer of material used primarily for better weather resistance, but also for thermal insulation and appearance
- Stone veneer, cladding using a thin layer of stone
- Formstone, a type of stucco imitating stone
- Harvard brick, a technique for building brick facades in imitation of much older ones
- Rustication (architecture), a range of masonry techniques contrasting with smooth ashlar
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References
Sources
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