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Iconic Glass structures – Beeld en Geluid

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Iconic Glass structures - Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision

Iconic Glass structures – Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision

The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Beeld en Geluid) is a Dutch cultural museum that collects and archives Dutch media, located in Hilversum, Noord-Holland. Currently, the museum’s collection exceeds 1,000,000 hours of film, video and audio recordings of Dutch cultural significance. The oldest recordings date to 1898.

Building employs unique glass printed panels

The 21,500 square-foot museum is cube-shaped, only half of which sits above ground. The building, designed by Architectenburo Neutelings Riedijk, is clad in 2,100 multicolored glass panels. Dutch graphic artist Jaap Drupsteen designed the building’s façade.

The panels are not simply colored glass. They contain nearly 750 relief images that were printed using a process that took three years to develop. The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) developed the printing process and equipment. French glass manufacturer Saint Gobain Glass was instrumental in producing the panels over a six-month period.

The images were randomly chosen from among the museum’s collection, and were digitally printed onto the glass panels using a unique powder printing process that combined digital printing and slumping. The images are UV resistant and have proven to be exceptionally durable.

The powder printing process involved the deposition of red, yellow and blue colored glass powder, using a specially developed printer. The process also requires special software that converts an image’s cyan, magenta and yellow colors into the proper amounts of the colored glass powder. The process deposits the colored glass in three separate layers, and then heated to the point of melting. When the powders melt, they produce the desired color and the relief in clear glass.

The museum project was completed in 2006, and consists of the museum and offices, a shop, a theater, parking spaces, and a green roof that covers the underground parking structure. A multilevel pond with fountains and waterfalls provides a significant water reservoir for firefighting, should it become necessary to protect the museum’s collection.

If you’d like inspiration for your glass project, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Pieter van Marion, via Flickr.com

All Glass Office Debuts in Hong Kong

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All Glass Office Debuts in Hong Kong

All Glass Office Debuts in Hong Kong

MVRDV, a Dutch design firm, recently unveiled its latest all-glass project: 133 Wai Yip Street in Hong Kong. The firm converted a former East Kowloon factory into office space. A repurposing of space isn’t all that special, but the former factory was stripped to the bare essentials and refitted with an all-glass interior -as in, glass walls, glass floors, glass furniture.

Glass office is designed for transparent businesses

The firm says the space is designed for the business that has nothing to hide. The 13-story building is a mixture of retail and office space, with the first three floors being devoted to shops. The firm added large glass windows to flood it with natural light.

The actual floors are painted white. Each story is outfitted with a floating glass floor supported by steel – much like what you’d find in a data center. The building is outfitted with glass elevators and glass elevator shafts. The offices are furnished with glass work tables. The fire escape, which was held over from the building’s former design, is also encased in glass. Although individual offices are also made of glass, they also have window coverings to provide privacy when necessary.

The building features a roof deck for office employees, and the designers used low-e glass to help reduce solar heat gain. According to MVRDV, the building uses about 17% less energy than neighboring buildings do. It also uses about 15% less electricity. The energy savings may not be entirely attributable to the glass, however. The firm also installed a new, energy-efficient HVAC system during the building remodel, which may account for part of the cost savings. Even so, it’s notable that the building uses less energy, given the increase in window size.

MDRDV has been experimenting with glass designs for quite awhile. The firm boasts several successful projects, and as many – if not more –proposed designs that make heavy use of glass. If you’d like some inspiration for decorating with glass, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: MVRDV

Light emitting glass glows

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Light emitting glass glows

Light emitting glass glows

An Australian team comprised of researchers from the University of Adelaide, the University of Melbourne and Macquarie University have developed a glass that glows in the dark without the use of photoluminescent coatings. They embedded photoluminescent nanoparticles into glass in what they call a “direct doping” approach. The nanoparticles are invisible – so they preserve the transparency of glass – but they glow when struck by ultraviolet and near-untraviolet light.

Smart glass could be shaped into optical fibers

The process can produce glass of any shape, including optical fiber, and was created using a two-stage melting process. The researchers envision the technology being used in medical imaging applications and 3-dimensional displays. The technique could be used to examine the status of individual cells in the body, bypassing the traditional luminescent dye processes used today.

The idea of using photosensitive nanoparticles isn’t new, but the production technique has been vastly improved using the new method. Prior to this, glass nanoparticles had to be created inside molten glass, which led to an uneven distribution of the desirable particles. Using the new technique, the glass nanoparticles are developed in a separate process, then added to the molten glass in a carefully controlled production process. That allows the researchers to control the distribution of the glass nanoparticles, and results in a more even (and more useful) distribution in the finished product.

The research team refers to the resulting material as a hybrid glass, and allows researchers to make a major step forward in the development of “smart glass” applications. Additionally, they believe that the two-stage approach to this glass hybrid could be used with other particles that could give glass embedded photonic, electronic or magnetic properties.

According to project leader Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heideprem, Deputy Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing, “We are heading towards a whole new world of hybrid glass and devices for light-based technologies.”

Glassprimer™ glass paint won’t make glass glow, but it does offer the ability to bring virtually any color to glass. It also offers unparalleled UV-protection, and can create translucent or frosted glass for about $1.00 per square foot. Glassprimer™ glass paint offers superior resistance to solar heat gain, as well as an excellent solution for sites where privacy is desired or required without interfering with natural light transmission.

If you’re looking for inspiration for decorating with glass, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Jon, via Flickr.com

All glass iPhone has consumers thinking

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All glass iPhone has consumers thinking

All glass iPhone has consumers thinking

The next generation of Apple’s seemingly ubiquitous iPhone is slated for 2017, but Apple seems to have set that device up for a short, quiet life. Leaks – including patent applications – seem to indicate that Apple is going for gold –or more accurately “glass” – when it releases the iPhone 8.

All glass iPhone has nothing to hide

Patent applications filed by Apple describe a device with an all –glass display that pulls double duty as the device’s case. That information is exciting to iPhone owners and prospects, even if studies have shown that nearly a quarter of the devices made between 2007 and 2013 experienced a cracked display screen.

The patent application doesn’t specify which kind of glass the phone factory plans to use for case duty, except to say that the chosen formula would be “chemically strengthened.” It also describes coatings that would make the glass resistant to the Four Horsemen of the Phone Apocalypse: water, fingerprints, glare and scratches.

The patent application has quite a history. The glass iPhone patent was actually submitted in 2011, but was only granted last month. That’s more than twice as long as the average patent application spends under the US Patent and Trademark Office microscope.

The all-glass iPhone – rumored to be the iPhone8 – will include a wrap-around front display, like the Samsung Galaxy Edge, but also a second, curved display on the backside of the device. That extra display real estate makes it impossible to use an aftermarket case on the device – like what current iPhone users favor.

In addition, the glass iPhone patent application describes a device that has virtual function buttons for volume and display control, as well as the Touch-ID fingerprint identification system currently available on the iPhone 6. Although the patent application shows a device with old-style Apple connectors (a throwback to the patent application date), presumably the device would be marketed with the latest connectors available, currently the Lightning port.

We don’t really know what an all-glass iPhone would look like or when it might be available, but we do know that you can do a lot with glass as a decorating surface. Using Glassprimer™ glass paint, you can incorporate glass into both your interior and exterior decorating plans. Glassprimer™ glass paint is highly durable and UV-resistant, which gives it points for both form and function. If you’d like some inspiration for decorating with glass or glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: darklordspet, via Flickr.com

The perfect beer glass?

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The Perfect Beer Glass?

The Perfect Beer Glass?

Cobra, a brand owned by brewer Molson Coors, says it has invented the “perfect beer glass.” The glass was the result of a collaboration among specialists at Birmingham University and Imperial College in London, along with Karmarama, a London-based advertising agency. Designers specializing in hydrodynamics and fluid dynamics worked together to develop the glass, which holds a pint of beer.

Beer glass was designed to improve taste, aroma and appearance

The “toughened” glass features a channel built into the interior surface, which guides the beer to the bottom of the glass. The channel wraps around the glass in a helical shape, creating a “whirlpool” effect inside the glass while the beer is being poured. The channel has a specific purpose; the agency claims that the channel releases aroma and flavor, and leaves the beer with a perfect head when the pour is finished.

Molson Coors is betting on the glassware to open the bar doors to Cobra, which has yet to develop a strong following among consumers during its 17 year history despite the brew’s accumulation of awards. Molson Coors is the world’s seventh largest brewer worldwide, but its Cobra beer is currently available only in the UK. Although the beer is made in Britain, it has its roots in India. The regional nature of consumer tastes in beer may explain why Cobra is still working toward broader brand recognition.

As a beer aficionado, you won’t get the intended benefits of the Perfect Beer Glass by pouring from a bottle. The interior channel in the glass is intended to be used with a special tap available only to commercial drinking establishments. In addition, the angle of the glass at the time of the pour factors into the “perfectness” of the result, and is also accounted for in the dispensing system.

Whether the perfect beer glass is hype or not remains to be seen, but Glassprimer™ has long recognized the specialized nature of glass. Our products are designed to take advantage of the special properties of glass, and to enhance their presence in both interior and exterior applications. If you’d like some glass inspiration, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Molson Coors/Cobra

Scientists develop glass genome

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Scientists develop glass genome

Scientists develop glass genome

Researchers at Aalborg University and Corning have devised a way to determine what effect additives will have on glass without actually making the glass. Glassmakers have known for thousands of years that additives to the glass formula produce glass with different characteristics. The process of developing new glass “recipes” is always conducted on a trial-and-error basis.

Process will shorten glass development cycle
The resulting glass is then tested to determine what properties it possesses as a result of changes to the glass formula. With thousands of possible combinations, finding glass with specific properties is almost a random event. In addition, it is difficult to know how additives will affect the strength, density and melting point of the glass.

The researchers combined a number of computer models to determine what they’ve called the “genome” of glass. The models allow the researchers to create virtual combinations of materials, and accurately predict the physical properties of the resulting glass. The models speed the process of creating new glass mixtures, and allow the researchers to design glass formulas that will produce specific properties. The process has already been used to create damage-resistant glass.

The approach is important not only because it can predict the end-result of glass formulas, but also it can predict the manufacturing characteristics of the glass, like a particular formula’s viscosity and melting point. The ability to predict both the manufacturing requirements and the resulting product can help scientists develop “designer” glass for specific applications more quickly and with fewer surprises.

While much is already understood about glass, this represents a major advance in material development, and promises to lead to exciting advancements in glass manufacturing.
Glassprimer™ glass paint also represents a significant advance in glass coating. Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to make a permanent bond with any glass surface. Glassprimer™ glass paint can also bond permanently to other surfaces, like Plexiglas™, stone and masonry.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is easy to work with and cleans up with ordinary solvents. We also offer a water-based formulation. Both formulations are low-odor, low VOC mixtures and can be safely used in both interior and exterior applications.
For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Alexey Kljatov, via FreeImages.com

Trapezoidal glass building opens in Beijing

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Trapezoidal glass building opens in Beijing

Trapezoidal glass building opens in Beijing

Architects are hyper-focused on energy efficiency in new construction, and glass plays a major role in that goal. A new approach to glass building design in the Beijing Greenland Center may help conserve energy while providing a unique appearance. Chicago-based architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) recently designed a glass building that uses trapezoidal glass panels to control the way sunlight enters the building.

Glass building designs display creativity

The Beijing Greenland Center is a 55-story mixed use commercial and residential space. The building’s glass façade was inspired by a bas relief technique and features angled trapezoidal panels with alternating orientations. The visual effect, when viewed from the ground, makes the building appear somewhat like a cheese grater. Thanks to the self-shading façade, the building’s solar heat gain is reduced. SOM aimed to reduce the building’s energy consumption by 30% compared to its similarly situated flat-façade neighbors, but the jury is still out on exactly how energy efficient the new design is.

SOM has been involved in a number of innovative glass building designs that experiment with shape and positioning to control solar gain without sacrificing light transmission. SOM has designed a number of glass buildings in China, including the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, the Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Zifeng Tower in Nanchang, the Hebin Theater Performing Arts Center in Guiyang, the Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 2 and the China World Trade Center 3A in Beijing, among others.

The company has also produced a number of landmark glass building projects in the United States, including 680 Folsom in San Francisco; 1 World Trade Center in New York City; 7 World Trade Center in New York City; the John Hancock Building in Chicago; Burr Street Elementary School in Fairfield, CT; Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland; CA and the New United States Courthouse in Los Angeles, CA.

If you’re looking for inspiration for a glass project, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: SOM, via FreeImages.com

Iconic Glass structures – W Hotel, Barcelona

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Iconic Glass structures – W Hotel, Barcelona

Iconic Glass structures – W Hotel, Barcelona

The W Hotel, also known as the Hotel Vela, was constructed in Barcelona in 2010, and was designed by architect Ricardo Bofill. The hotel is made of glass and steel, and is shaped like a sail. The hotel complex occupies 64,000 square meters of land “reclaimed” from the sea in the Port of Barcelona and welcomes visitors to the city through the harbor’s new entrance. It connects the port to the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics.

W Hotel makes liberal use of glass throughout the building

The W Hotel features nearly 500 guest rooms, a rooftop bar, a marina, direct access to the Mediterranean Sea, and panoramic views of the City of Barcelona. It is the signature landmark of an area being redeveloped with high-end retail, restaurants, entertainment and other attractions. In 2010, the hotel won the Prix Villégiature Best Exterior Architecture Hotel Europe.

The use of glass is not limited to the exterior of the W. The hotel’s interior design makes liberal use of glass, both in the guest rooms and in the common spaces in the hotel. Dramatic LED lighting of glass-faced walls create an exceptional elegance.Most hotel rooms have a view of the sea, as do most of the meeting, dining and entertainment spaces.

The design of the26-story hotel is controversial because local building ordinances prohibited construction less than 100 meters from the shoreline. Prior to the construction of the W Hotel, along with the neighboring Agbar Tower and Arts Hotel, that ordinance was vigorously enforced.

The hotel façade is made of glass panels. Each panel was fabricated, then lifted into place. They were attached to the building using mechanical fasteners and structural silicone sealants. The glass panels reflect the color of the sea and sky, allowing the building to blend into the environment.

You can incorporate glass into your decorating scheme, and with the help of Glassprimer™ glass paint, you can choose virtually any color palette. Glassprimer™ glass paint is highly UV-resistant, and will not chip, crack or fade over time. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint or decorating with glass, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Ira Smirnova , via Flickr.com

Radioactive glass in Fukushima

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Radioactive glass in Fukushima

Radioactive glass in Fukushima

The earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima, Japan in March 2011 would have been big enough on their own, but the disaster was magnified by the fact that the natural disaster disrupted the operations of a nuclear power plant in ways that no one had foreseen. New research shows that the impact of that disaster continues today.

Glass particles landed in Tokyo

The earthquake and tsunami flooded the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing the release of radioactive Cesuim isotopes from the plant over the course of several days. Researchers have concluded that Tokyo, which is more than 200 km away from Fukushima, was dusted in radioactive glass microparticles created when the plant’s reactors melted down, and those particles hung around much longer than organic materials would have.

Cesium is water-soluble, and many scientists thought that it posed a lower danger because it could be washed out of the environment by rain. Because glass is inert and the radioactive Cesium was encapsulated in the “glassy soot” from the plant, the rain did not wash away the radioactive glass particles as it would have organic materials. That means the only avenues for removal of the radioactive glass soot would have been direct removal of the contaminated soot or direct washing.

Scientists examined air filters that captured some of the glass particles created during the meltdown. Based on their analysis, the particles were nearly as radioactive in Tokyo as they were when they left Fukushima.

Removing potentially contaminated soil was part of the remediation plan for the affected area, so much of the radioactive glass was eventually removed. The findings are significant enough to make the researchers rethink their approach to monitoring the effects of nuclear contamination on humans. Their concern is for the health of the people affected by the fallout. People inhaled encapsulated Cesium glass microparticles, which proved to be super effective at maintaining so much of their radioactive payload. Knowing that glass particles have a “protective” effect on nuclear radation (even the water soluble kind) allows scientist to better evaluate the immediate and long-term impacts of such an accident on human health.

At GlassPaint.com, we don’t recommend that you inhale anything but fresh air. That’s why we’ve made our Glassprimer™ glass paint a low-VOC formula. By eliminating VOC in our paints, we’ve made it easier and more pleasant to work with Glassprimer™ glass paint indoors. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Tamaki Sono, via Flickr.com

Google Glass may have night vision

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Google Glass may have night vision

Google Glass may have night vision

Google Glass debuted in 2013 as an experimental product. Google glass offered a head-mounted display and delivered information in a hands-free format. The product was put on the market in mid-2014, and almost immediately became a focus of concern for safety advocates and legislators alike. By January 2015, Google announced that it was pulling Glass off the market, but that it would continue to develop the product behind closed doors.

Google Glass has new life in medicine

Recently, Google applied for a new patent related to Google glass. The patent application indicates that Google intends to add night vision to the erstwhile product at some point. The application confirms that development on Google Glass continues. Despite the fact that it’s not available on the open market right now, the world hasn’t forgotten about Google Glass and its potential applications.

Despite its shortcomings “in the wild,” Google Glass is earning high marks in the Emergency Room. Doctors at the University of Massachusetts Medical School use Google Glass to communicate with other doctors both inside the medical complex and elsewhere. Using Google Glass has significantly increased the doctors’ confidence in their diagnoses, partially because they can consult with other specialists, and partly because they can bring information into the diagnostic process more efficiently. The School also had to make some investments into the devices to make them HIPAA compliant.

Emergency room physicians aren’t the only ones who have incorporated Google Glass into their environment. Plastic surgeons at Georgetown University Hospital are also using Google Glass during cosmetic and reconstructive surgical procedures, with positive results.

Google Glass has also found a following among clinicians who work with autistic children. Google Glass is used to help affected children “read” the faces of those around them. Autistic individuals often have difficulty interpreting the facial expressions of others. Facial recognition software, written by researchers at Stanford University, helps autistic children associate emotions with common facial expressions. The goal of the Stanford program is to assist autistic individuals in becoming more socially engaged.

Glassprimer™ glass paint isn’t used in medical research – at least not that we know of – but it can help you incorporate outstanding color and UV protection into your interior and exterior decorating projects. Glassprimer™ glass paint is a cost-effective, durable coating for glass surfaces, and can create a frosted effect for about $1 per square foot. If you’d like more information about Google Glass, you’re going to have to wait – it’s not currently available. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. Best of all, Glassprimer™ is available right now at our online store .

Photo Credit: CyberHades, via FreeImages.com