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1 Introduction
1.0 The use of glass in architecture
1.0.1 Crystalline
Glass, the oldest man-made material, has a history going back more than seven thousand
years. It is a product of fusion with silicon dioxide (sand) as its main constituent, and has
since ancient days been elevated due to its singular properties.
Crystal is often compared to glass in having similar properties. This relates to the
reflective and sparkling effects of the two materials, but when looking at this relation
from the physicist’s point of view, it becomes inappropriate. The molecular structure of a
crystal is regular whereas that of glass is irregular; the irregularity being the property that
makes glass transparent; while a clear crystal might be translucent at best.3
Figure 1 - Molecular Structure of glass and crystal
3
Heinz W. Krewinkel, Glass in Buildings: Material, Structure and Detail, 1998 Birkhauser, pg7
Architectural glass.
3
My comparison in this dissertation goes beyond the literal in which I attempt to infuse
order in a very irregular scatter of theories and literature treating the theme of glass and
transparency in architecture, the related functions and phenomenological aspects4, in a
way, figuratively turning glass into a more ordered crystal.
1.0.2 Functions of Glass throughout History
The main factor to which much of the material’s (glass) success is owed, is its
transparency. A transparency which is complemented with a smooth surface, strength and
durability. A variable transparency which can interchange between translucence or
complete reflection of light, refraction effects and clear transmission of light.
It is fascinating how the functions of glass have been continually changing since its
discovery. It took two thousand years for the idea that glass could be used for windows to
emerge and not merely for pots and containers.5 The environment and the necessities
brought about by it have been a source of inspiration for the first glassmakers to create
the transparent enclosures. This could be achieved when the making of flat glass was
understood and easily utilized.
In the present times glass in buildings serves many changing functions whereas glass was
built into the theoretical basis of the Modern Movement at its outset, which we can still
see its major influences today.
Throughout the ages the main aspect of the functions of glass in architecture have
gradually changed. Below I have outlined the changing concepts and glass functions in
various stages in time since its conception.
4
Colin Rowe’s and Robert Slutzky’s work on phenomenal transparency in buildings treats the aspect of
transparency, which will be referred to in depth in the following chapters.
5
Michael Wiggongton, Glass in Architecture, Phaidon, pg6, 1996. Introduction.
4
Egypt 1500
BC
Egypt has provided the oldest glass found
to date in the form of glass beads and
vessels. Glass was used in buildings in the
form of mosaics since the early times.
Phoenician city
of Sidon
100
B.C.
Invention of the blowing iron, production
of transparent glass became feasible with
the use of an iron tube 1 to 1.5 m long
with a 10mm bore
Roman Period The Romans used glass in glazing
windows in panes of sizes even up to one
metre squared, possibly cast.
Rome 337
A.D.
Constantine’s church of Saint Paul used
glass as an illuminated, painted surface.
Saone and
Rhine
Provinces
Glass industries flourished manned by
Jewish, Syrian and Alexandrian
craftsmen, with famous factories in
Cologne and Trier. In the latter the Latin
name Glesum gave glass its present name.
German
invasion and
collapse of
Roman Empire
400
A.D. to
600
A.D.
The centres of glass making in the Rhine
and Rhone valleys remained, but many
fled to the Po Valley and Liguria. German
invaders broke the easterners monopoly in
around 600 AD
Venetian Glass
Industry.
By
1000
A.D.
Venetians were establishing their
techniques for the bullions produced by
spinning
Northern
Europe
Start of the Gothic Age with the use of
both spinning and cylinder method to
satisfy the demands of the church
Gothic
Cathedrals
From
the 12th
century
A.D.
The development of the Gothic church
structure is one of the most important
architectural stories, which brought about
the creation of the glass wall. The large
openings suggest the implicit idea of
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‘frame’ in Gothic architecture. The role of
glass thus became that of a membrane to
keep the weather out. In southern Europe,
glazed openings where not essential, but
in northern Europe, protection from the
sun was replaced by the thirst for light,
and protection from rain. Later, it
developed as a form of pictorial
representation. Here, glass found its
natural place in the architectonic order.
English secular
inheritance
16th
Century
Far away from the influence of the
Renaissance taking place in the south of
Europe, glass in English Elisabethan
architecture was used to represent the
wealthy and successful in an ostentatious
way. A representative aphorism is
‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’ 6.
Renaissance in
Northern
Europe
From
the end
of the
16th
Century
When Italian Renaissance hit northern
Europe, a radical change encompassed
architectural thinking, which reflected in a
change in the building form. The
‘architectonics and deriving of form’7
which characterized the Gothic, English
Elizabethan and Jacobean and Dutch
architecture, gave way to a rationalization
of the quality of materials, which were
given more importance than to their role
in the elevation. Although glass was
therefore used less in the design of
buildings, the advance of technology
made it available to the general public and
more houses were able to incorporate
glass according to differing needs: light,
view and protection.
Improvement
of techniques
From
the 17th
century
The spread of glass put a requirement of
quality in the demands of the clientele
with a taste for large panes of glass. A
technique was developed in about 1670,
6
Hardwick Hall (1590-7) by Robert Smythson, is a prime example of the extensive use of glass in England
towards the end of the 16th century. Its is situated near Mansfield on the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire
border.
7
Architectonics, simply put is the art of constructing systems.
6
and perfected by Bernard Perrot in the
process for polishing glass, which he
published in the French Academie des
Sciences. The skills needed to make glass
where completely revolutionized. Louis
XIV made wonderful use of of the new
material in Versailles 8. 18th century
Europe brought about large advances in
the manufacture of glass. However the
architecture was still dominated by the
formal order of the Renaissance, giving
importance to windows in elevations.
Glass
Conservatories
From
the 18th
century
Brought about by Dutch experimentation
with sloping glass, conservatories
developed internationally due to a
common interest in horticulture. In the
19th century, Loudon grew concerned with
the science of conservatories. He looked
for a new architecture which ‘may be
beautiful without exhibiting any orders of
the Grecian or Gothic’. Loudon designed
and built the first stressed skin structure
whereby the glass was giving stability to
the iron framework.
Commercial
exposition
centres and
stations.
19th
century
Paxton’s contribution9 was primarily in
the glazing system, its construction
methods and ingenious use of glass. This
building was called a monster by Pugin,
but construction went on. Konras
Washmann gave the building historical
importance when he wrote that the
building was ‘a symbol of the new spirit
of the times.’ More structures where later
built in an effort to produce huge halls,
including stations and shopping galleries.
8
Versailles; built by a powerful monarch, here unlike at Hardwick, it is subordinate to the discipline of
ordering of the Italian Renaissance, but still with extensive use of glass. Norberg-Schulz has described
Versailles as a glass house, linking the transparent structures of the Gothic Age to the great iron and glass
buildings of the nineteenth century.
9
Joseph Paxton, known for his design of the Crystal Palace in 1851, Hyde Park, London, acclaimed to be
one of the first ‘modern’ buildings, whose concept evolved on the use of glass.
7
Frame and
Skin
19th
century
The same thinking that brought about the
Gothic glass wall opened up the façade
into a frame opening, made of metal. This
type of structure was more widely used in
industrial buildings at first but was later
utilized for schools and office blocks.
1.0.3 Technology and the increase in use of glass
The literary bibliography of glass is very small and its significant works can be kept
without difficulty in a personal library, but the technical literature produced every year is
vast. This shows how technology is quickly shaping and re-shaping the use of glass in
architecture and many new techniques and sciences are developed every year, which shed
their influence on architecture and the use of glass. This is complemented by the view
that architecture is very much derived from the state of the technology. We have read
from Vitruvius to Violet-le-Duc how architecture is subject to the purpose and material,
and that our technology of today is an inheritance of a long tradition. It thus seems
appropriate to discuss the evolution of the use of glass in architecture throughout the
various stages in history. It will be shown how both the literal and phenomenal properties
of glass have shaped and created architecture.
The trend of glass architecture in construction terms is in the reduction of a supporting
structure. For example, glass roofs with sag rods minimize the need for steel framing and
increase the transparency. The same can be said for facades. Cable lattice designs and
mechanical systems render possible; the delicate glass architecture designed in the
present day. Glass has a high compressive strength but low tensile strength (30–90 N/mm
squared), but the risk of brittle fracture can be compensated with the use of laminated
glass giving adequate strength after fracture. Judging from the vast amount of material
produced each year, the experimentation with the use of glass is by no means exhausted.
Now more than ever, it requires the exchange of technological data between all those
involved, including architects.
8
Figure 2 – Structural Glass used to skin the pyramids at the Louvre Museum in Paris
Michael Wiggington describes our present times as the fourth age of glass.10 The age
follows the earlier ones of the Gothics, the 18th century conservatory builders and the
Scheerbartian visions of the 1920's including other architects and designers. He states
that: “the fourth age is going to be easily the finest because we can actually use the glass
now to control the climate and transparency. Buildings will be incredibly lively in the
future, and all because of this fantastic material.”
10
Futurama, Periodical, Interview with Michael Wiggington by Alan Saunders, 2000
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1.1 Glass as structure and skin
Developing techniques of fixing glass and exploiting its structural capacity allow the
removal of structural elements from the plane. The potential for architectural expression
is enormous, since until recently the transparent surface was dominated by columns or
glazing bars needed to hold the glass in place.
Peter Rice and Hugh Dutton 11 promote the idea that the flimsiest steel or aluminium
profiles, and even glass stiffening fins, detract from the pure planar nature of the glass
surface, giving it a relief standing out from the skin, the glass planes. Without these
structural component a new structural device is created, this being a pure planar surface
of transparent, reflective or luminous glass.
1.2 Dissertation Structure
Up till now, I have outlined the various stages of thought brought about by glass as a
material in architecture, throughout the ages, with the exception of the modern
movement. The latter will be discussed in Chapter 2, due to its importance and
implications towards today’s architecture due to the visionaries, utopists and architectural
theorists of its time.
An analysis of a number of important theories will follow from which the essence will be
extracted and re-used throughout the rest of the dissertation. From the utopic visions of
Paul Scheerbart, to a Phenomenal transparency idealized by Colin Rowe, all have given
their part in the making of architectural history.
I will therefore attempt to identify and analyze local buildings which show a major aspect
of one or a number of the theories detailed. I will venture to explore literal and
11
Peter Rice and Hugh Dutton, Structural Glass, 2nd Edition, Champman and Hall 1997. Here a discussion
on the glass structures of the Serres Project at La Villette, Paris is found.
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phenomenological transparency through our contemporary times, but more importantly
within our vast historic heritage in architecture.
Finally after having studied the local scene in the use of glass and the achievement of
transparency in both its definitions, a search for the ways which are most appropriate to
Maltese architecture in its historical, climatic and market terms, with a look towards the
future, will be carried out.
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