Through out centuries, the domination of glass in construction around the world has become
more apparent.Over the last 150 years Britain alone has created a visual documentation of the advancing innovations of glass technology,seeing the construction methods change and new support structures accommodate the ever growing use of glass.
Le corbusier stated "It created a relationship between light and gravitational objects" , such statements confirm the importance of glass and reflect the historical value,which has been inspirational to modern day construction ideas and influential to the future; he is also aware that structural design habits had to change in order to embrace the new technology.
The excitement basking in the 19th/18th century resulted in a vast amount of companies creating glass for an array of uses such as automotive.retail display and architectural purposes. The common dilemma within the glass industry was manufacturing to specification e.g. Size,thickness,various designs required quicker production times, and achieving pristine clarity in the glass.
Plate Glass
The main glass production type was plate glass due to its ability to suit building styles of that era; this was later followed by float glasses which opened up neoteric impressions of architecture.
Plate glass was profoundly developed in Germany in the 11th century ,further advances by France created the first development in glass technology,using the material for windows and classic glazed doors.By this time glass production was no longer a craft but a potential industry.
In the 18th Century the "British Plate Glass Company" ( Raven Head, Lancashire) was established. This became one of the first companies in Britain to manufacture sheet/plate glass through a process of manual labour and low tech machinery. The machinery in the 1830's known as the cylinder process created glass sheets of uniform thickness ranging from 6mm to 25mm depending on the requirements of the user.
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The image above shows the plate glass -
casting table,with cuvette,heavy roller and side rails. |
The manufacturing process of plate glass begins with ingredients from around the British Isles, sands from the Isle of Wight and Kings Lynn were added to decomposed soda of salt, pot ashes and lime; these were regarded as the glass stabilisers. Once the ingredients were established, they were melted together for 1-2days , once this stage was complete, the molten material was transferred to a refectory container were the material was left to be refined for several hours, removing any imperfections such as debris and bubbles. When all defects were nil, the container of molten was lifted from the furnace to a casting table in front of the annealing area; this was now ready to be discharged on to the table in order to become planate by a large metal roller.
The determination for the thickness of the glass was adjudicated by two metal stripes at either side of the casting table, each plate was approximately 12.55M/sq to 10.8M/sq before it was cut. The casting tables on wheels allowed the material once cut to be wheeled out to annealing chambers were the glass was left to cool for a further two weeks.
Plate glass once cooled is a rough material, the glass required to be grounded and sanded to achieve the flat even surface and this was done by hand. Grinding and sanding was followed by smoothing; the glass was smoothed using aluminium oxide and iron bearing minerals originating from the Greek Island 'Naxo's'. Emery, an abrasive waste substance of sulphuric acid could also be used. On average once produced, glass plates were 12mm thick; however after sanding and abrasion the end product was 6mm thick.
The most extravagant use of plate glass was demonstrated in 1851 by the 'Crystal Palace', Hyde Park, London (Joseph Paxton). The palace is described as a product of the industrial revolution; the Crystal Palace was constructed with modular cast-iron enabling it to be dismantled for re-location in the future. The purpose built enlarged greenhouse had plate glass curtain walled facades, one of the first structures to contradict the need for load bearing walls in a structure as the facade resists its own dead weight and has no weight to bear from the building because its materials are light.
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Crystal Palace, (then Sydenham Hill, London,1851)
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Crystal_Palace.html |
This design was initially a small scale project; instead it was enlarged and set new limits to architectural design. The discovery of the limits of glass was followed by the ability to solve factors of the light in a building and increase social well being as seen in the millions of visitors to Crystal Palace.
Plate Glass
Plate glass eventually became a thing of the past due to its long processing time and its inability to produce high quality glass. As a result in 1955 Sir Alistair Pilkington and Kenneth Bickerstaff established what has become " Pilkington's" glass company of today.
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Float Glass general process
http://www.agc-group.com/en/about/flatglass_03.html |
The manufacturing process of Pilkington's glass is similar to that of when oil is poured on to water, the oil spreads out at the top of the water body; in terms of molten glass, the gravity and surface tension cause the materials parallel surfaces to become completely flat. The equilibrium between gravity and surface tension creates uniform thickness.
An example of the early use of float glass is the " Crystal Palace Station" built after the move of the Crystal Palace its self, following the same design idea as the plate glass built palace, however with a modern change of glass possibly due to the weather resistant qualities of float glasses. As a purpose built station for frequent usage it embraces the natural flood light.
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Crystal Palace Station
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3623/3493825147_fb108e973e_z.jpg |
Over the last 150 years glass technology has significantly changed from a craft to an industry that is relied upon by Architects around the world. Modern day glass innovations are on-going and further variations in glass are making our buildings phenomenal. Pilkingtons have created a whole range of glass for the consumers needs,depending on what the consumer wants to achieve from in the building.
These are some of the products influencing building of today and the future. Insulight glass is designed to optimise thermal insulation therefore if a construction project wwas located in a cooler climate or a section of a building was situated in a shaded area with limitations to the amount of sunlight/thermal properties, it would either reduce the buildings heat loss via the windows or allow thermal radiation to pass into the building. A product like this coincides with the current target to create a green and economical building;thermal insulation could reduce heating costs say for an office building.
Optilight increases visible light,achieved by reducing the iron content of the glass. Optilight could more than likely be used in an industrial building were maximum natural light is a bonus, in contrast Arctic Blue tinted windows prevent glare and controls solar energy. These types of glass are produced as glass facades, they also have different types of fixings depending on how the structure of the building is designed.
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Lippo Center,Admiralty, Hong Kong,China
http://www.12hk.com/area/Admiralty/LippoCtr_PHOT0582.html |
The example image above of the Lippo Center by Paul Rudolph of Wong-Ouyang ltd ( an Australian), the Lippo Centre is said to resemble Koala bears climbing as tree. The building is part retail and part office spaces, the innovation was constructed with float glass and steel.
With the choices of thickness (0.4mm-25mm) and the technology widely available within the glass industry, the influence that glass has on building designs of the future is immeasurable; the competence of glass will help see in economical large scale building designs and achieve new concepts. Although the glass making has become the industry,the Architects/Designers have become the crafts men retaining
Bruno Taut's quote...
" Glass has no other purpose than to be beautiful" - 1918.
References
The Great Exhibition 1851. (2002) from Historyuk: http//www.historic-uk.com\HistoryUK\England-History\GreatExhibition1851.htm
Behling,S.a (1998), Glass, In structures and technology in Architecture,foto nigel oung
Center, L (2009) Home,,from lippo centre: http://lippocenter.com.hk
Ltd,T.T (2004, 12 22) Float Glass Technology, from Tangram: httpp://www.tangram.co.uk
Pilikingtons, (2011) Pilkingtons: http://www.pilkingtons.com
Pye, D.B (n.d) Glass in Buildings, Pilkingtons
Watts, D (2009-2010) Thames plate glass A History of glass making London.
Wiki,Crystal Palace station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/crystal_palace_railway_station
Wiki ( n.d) Wiki Retrieved from Crystal Palace
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