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Colored Glass Facade on the Brain

 

Lately I’ve been pushing around a few different colored glass facade ideas that I’d love to pursue. I have developed various concepts for glass facades over the years; but writing about The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision last year whet my appetite for revisiting this kind of work, which uniquely brings together my interests in both architectural glass and public art.

As a starting point, I’ve been looking back through some of the concepts I’ve created for unrealized projects. The image above is from a proposal that I created for Rhode Island’s T.F. Green Airport. The tapestry-like installation of glass depicts a series of international maritime signal flags, which spell out the first few lines of the poem Ithaka by C.P. Cavafry (1863-1933), describing the experience of travel as a metaphor for life’s journey. The flags also reference Rhode Island as the Ocean State. The facade concept that emerged from this inspiration has a different feel from a lot of my work; I used this proposal as an opportunity to play with a bold primary color palette and explore more distinct and overtly symbolic shapes than my aesthetic typically entails.

 

 

Another example is this concept for the Denver Crime Lab, informed by references to forensic sciences and DNA mapping (as well as the striking geometry of the architecture). Its aesthetic is a bit more in line with my more current work. This design (of which I created numerous variations) incorporates glass paints and handblown glass incorporated into the exterior glazing of the building, resulting in both a daytime and nighttime presence of enveloping color and movement. While this project was never realized, it remains a concept I’d love to develop further. I’ll write more about it in a forthcoming post.

Can you think of a favorite colored glass facade that you’ve seen? Please share your thoughts in the comments below – I’m always on the lookout for inspiration.