| Glass usage in the country has been growing dramatically over the past decade.
We all like our houses and buildings to open up to the environment and be flooded with natural light. Architects and decorators are innovatively using glass for a variety of applications from skylights to partitions, balustrades to staircases, and many-many more that make our surroundings look more spacious and beautiful.
In this past, this has led to a tradeoff with safety, security, energy efficiency, and noise insulation. Recent advances in glass technology show how one can achieve
the following:
Glass by Function
. Solar & Heat Control
. Sound Control
. Safety & Security
. Strength
. Colors & Aesthetic
Colors & Aesthetic
Glass for Beauty and Privacy- best of both worlds!
Glass is more than functional-it is architectural. It gives the illusion of more space, increases natural lighting, and lends character to interior spaces. Architectural glass goes beyond architecture to become art, using textures, patterns, colors, and technique to define and highlight individual tastes.
Glass can incorporate rice paper for a softer look, be mouth-blown for a more authentic, vintage feel, or be rolled for a three-dimensional look. It can be practical, like sleek, contemporary frosted glass that leaves no fingerprints behind. Glass can be patterned, laminated, frosted or acid-etched, offering varying degrees of translucency for privacy and design.
Glass can transform space with color, light, and pattern. Used in doors as insets or panels, art glass allows light to penetrate interior spaces while capturing the eye with colors, patterns, and laminates that make an architectural statement.
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Art glass is always decorative and sometimes hand-crafted. Stained glass is among the most popular forms of art glass. Sometimes referred to as leaded glass, stained glass is typically sold in large, colored sheets. While the designs made from stained glass are artfully crafted by hand, the production of the glass itself can occur in a studio using the mouth-blown technique or in a factory setting on an assembly line.
Whether hand-made or machine-made, glass that is colored is typically made in smaller batches. Colors are created by mixing various metal oxides-like gold or cobalt-into the raw materials prior to melting.
Firing alters the color, so gold will yield a bubblegum pink color when cooled. Iron oxide is used to give reproduction glass its characteristic light green hue reminiscent of older glass.
Reproduction glass, with its bubbles and blemishes, is the preferred choice for glass replacement in an antique china cabinet or vintage cupboard. It also lends itself beautifully to more expansive historic renovations. Because it is mouth-blown, reproduction glass has a waviness that is not found in modern glass. Hand-made glass is not homogeneous, so it can't be tempered. It can, however, be made safe through lamination.
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