The magic of glass has always been unreservedly connected to light, transparency and vision. In modern industry, its versatility has progressed far beyond its early forms and applications and has achieved amazing innovative evolutions!
The applications of glass for Interior Design are now myriad, and very few design plans do not employ glass in some form. To simply develop a list of the variety and versatility of glass would, itself, fill this article space! Almost without exception, glass has become a baseline, essential component in interior space design and planning.
In conjunction with the important considerations of light management for inner space, glass – in some form and configuration – often drives and controls the desired end. With few exceptions, glass is employed to allow light, improve light, admit light, refer light, absorb and contain light!
The forms of glass we now access for design planning are marriages of many technologies. Laminated glass fused or pressed glass, etched glass, stained glass, glass blocks, and electrically charged glass present unlimited creative options for your commercial or residential interiors. (…and, what would our investigative and law-enforcement agencies do without the aid of “one-way” glass!)
Partitions, doors and walls can be transformed into objects of art and beauty with etched or laminated glass treatments that partner with lighting. Illumination through enhanced glass has converted many a somber passageway into a brief, beautiful walk — as personnel, clients or customers move from one facility area to another.
The need for appropriate privacy in several aspects of business and professional environments can be softened with the use of electrically charged glass – a high-tech way to shift from clear to opaque – and still present a softened version of: Private! No Admittance!
The rich heritage we received from Charles Louis Tiffany’s 1848 pioneering in stained glass became almost a household word when his son Louis Comfort Tiffany became the company’s first official Design Director in 1812. His incredibly beautiful use of stained glass opened the way for glass art in all applications, from personal jewelry through partition panels, lampshades and many, many interior design accessory components. Our modern decorative glass technology spring-boarded from the Tiffanys’ shoulders into production advancements that, no doubt, would amaze that father and son!
Although tempered glass was developed in the early 1900’s and first patented by Austrian chemist, Rudolf Seiden, the demand for its use did not significantly come into play until safety regulations mandated its use in the 1960s. Presently, all aspects of our design and construction industries must incorporate tempered glass where regulations specify. (The U. S. Consumer Products Safety Commission adopted the Safety Standard for Architectural Glazing Materials in 1977, known as CPSC 16 CFR 1201, last amended in 1982.) The CPSC is a Federal standard that mandates when and where safety glass must be used.
Laminated glass, used extensively for partitions, door and window inserts, eliminates the need for tempered glass when used in windows adjacent to doors. Laminated glass allows for a wide variety of visual effects of color and patterning.
Glass! For beauty, safety, light, function, variety — or just a whim – glass is an important key component for innovative interior design planning. It partners successfully with all other components from stone to metal to wood and all materials in between! See?
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book and Instagram at Business Design Services.
