This article is an award winning article entry for Glazzete Magazine. SALT would like to extend hearty congratulations to Richa Gupta(Author) for this success.
As of now we are publishing abstract of the article and hope to publish complete article soon.
Glass as a building material through the ages.A History
Architectural background reveals a long period of evolution of glass as a material that catered not only the physical need of enclosure and surface in a space but also imparted visual and spatial experience to it.
It made it possible to erect transparent, open and seemingly weightless buildings and appreciate both the inside and the outside simultaneously by staying in the same place. Traditionally light was introduced in the interior spaces, through openings in solid walls and roof. But with the introduction of glass, light gained a spatial role of dematerialization, taking away solidity of the structure, and dissolving the surfaces through transparent panels and shimmering mosaics. Thus, the dematerialization of architectural spaces engaged both structure and surface, and was physical, spiritual and symbolic.
The dematerialization of architecture for spiritually symbolic reasons was most prominent in the Gothic period, through the Scholastics’ revival of the Greek metaphysics of light.
Transparency is the vital property that gives important character to glass for its diverse performance. The evolution of glass also saw in architecture the development of the word ‘Transparency’ in theoretic terms. Transparency has come to signify more than what is physically non-opaque or able to allow movement of light through it. The word transparency has taken its role in the description of architectural form, as a tool in design, and as an objective method for analyzing architectural layouts. Thus, glass also found its correlation with the form and function of a space.
Glass along with controlling the physical qualities of an interior space also proved to be an expressive, artistic tool which goes beyond the practical demands of daily life. The understanding of two differential aspects calls for an account of how this material became incorporated within the architectural theory and practice, or in words of architect Bruno Taut, how it became endowed with “architectonic quality”, as the ‘The historical accounts, written mostly in the pragmatic framework of technological development assume a consistent linear development in the use of glass and disregard the diversity of interpretations.’[1]
Bruno Taut said, “If we want our culture to rise to a higher level, we are obligated for better or for worse, to change our architecture. And this only becomes possible if we take away the closed character from the rooms in which we live. We can only do that by introducing glass architecture, which lets in the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars.
But if we look towards the Indian context, concept of openness and visual connection to outside can be introduced with regulated flow of light inside the spaces as there is an important requirement to cut down the glare. In the present scenario, where use of glass is inevitable in all building typologies, there is a wide possibility of assimilating the constructional materiality and artistic expression with modern life conditions.
With this premise this study attempts to understand the spatial transformation that glass imparts and find its appropriateness in present context which is important for a versatile material like glass.
[1] Ersoy Ufuk, ‘Seeing through glass: The fictive role of glass in shaping architecture from Joseph Paxton's "Crystal Palace" to Bruno Taut's "Glashaus’, arq (Vol 11), 2007. This dissertation concentrates on the metaphors that Taut and Paxton employed in order to solve the theoretical riddle between this mass-produced material and architectural principles. Deciphering these metaphors, the dissertation reveals that, far from displaying a structural truth, glass appealed to Paxton and Taut by virtue of its fictive attributes.
About Author :
Richa Gupta is a student of Masters Programme of Interior Achitecture and Design in CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
Link to article on Glazzete magazine:
http://www.glazette.com/24-spatial-role-of-glass-effect-of-glass-in-interior-spaces-of-indian-palaces.html
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