Architectural Glass

Abstract

This chapter on architectural glass focuses on the use of glass in buildings and structures. It covers a wide variety of glass applications ranging from its most frequent use in facade glazing systems to advanced applications of glass as a load-bearing material. The latter is a relatively young field of application and evolved from the early 1990s from simple beam applications to today's all-glass structures. An overview of flat glass products that are frequently applied in architecture is provided in Sect. 52.1. This includes a discussion of the related float glass production process, processing technologies, surface treatments, and glass functionalities such as insulation and fire resistant and switchable glazing. In addition to these flat glass products, which are most commonly applied in architecture, Sect. 52.2 discusses cast glass products. Cast glass products such as glass channels and glass blocks provide a different typology and offer a different architectural expression from flat glass products and are as such frequently used in exterior facades and interior separation walls. The application of glass in common facade systems and as a load-bearing material in structures is discussed in Sect. 52.3. This includes a reflection on the related design methodologies and safety concepts that deal with the brittle and, thus, inherently unsafe failure behavior of glass. Section 52.4 describes different typologies for connecting glass components such as glass facade panels or structural glass beams. This includes a discussion of classical mechanical connections and more recent adhesive bonding technologies that provide new opportunities for glass engineering. Section 52.5 discusses numerical modeling procedures that can be used in the design and engineering of glass in the architectural domain. Finally, an outlook for future developments in architectural glass is provided in Sect. 52.6.