Introduction
Glass, a primary building material and more recently used in modern day architecture, functions as a filter, protecting from the sun, heat, noise, without creating a visual barrier and therefore becoming a synonym of transparency and freedom.
Aside from its social value, transparency eliminates barriers, beginning with visual ones, to bring the society closer together and more in contact with the outside environment. It also has an ecological value, when associated with other disciplines such as thermal analysis or fluid dynamics. Transparency and convection motion form a synergy, creating two sides that not only open towards the outdoors, but help to climatize and reduce building expenses, eliminating or heating air through an interspace.
Glass is not merely momentary transparence that emphasizes its expressiveness by accompanying the light in different directions but by transforming it into numerous colors, distinguishing itself as an exceptional architectural element.
The potential of glass as an architectural material is enhanced when it focuses on capturing the magic balance between light, architectural form and transparency. Glass expresses an exceptional geometric and architectural order with a combination of these factors.
On the other hand, if glass is used as a structural element, it exerts remarkable resistance and forms transparent architectural structures.
However, it allows major creative potential in various workmanship possibilities on surfaces; covering, printing, coloring, engraving and starching, are operations that, either alone or combined, produce a wide range of effects permitting the artist to fully express his creativity.
Glass may be self-cleaning, lightweight, frost resistant and produced in large quantities and can also be recycled, which makes it an “eco-friendly” material.