The architecture of dams in ensembles of mediumand high-head hydraulic facilities

Abstract

1. A hydraulic facility is a significant technological and architectural ensemble. In medium-, high-, and ultrahigh- head hydraulic facilities, the dam is one of the basic elements that determines their architectural appearance. 2. The development of the architectural form of any dam should be subordinate to an expression of the functions satisfied by that dam, while the principal form should express their basic notion of the architecture of any hydraulic facility, the notion of the capture and reorganization of the water element. 3. Each type of dam has its own architectural notion and its own architectural value. The basic task of the architect is to develop these values, giving consideration to the interrelationships between the dam and other elements of the ensemble. 4. Since contemporary architecture is created not by special architectural components, but by aesthetically intelligent designs of functionally necessary structures and by the equipment required for their operation, the design and construction of all the elements of a dam and its equipment, which are frequented or viewed by man, should come under the architect's careful serutiny.