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Big glass on the agenda at Facade Tectonics event

The Facade Tectonics Forum will explore the challenges and opportunities inherent in the ongoing trend toward big glass in Vancouver on July 30. The forum is being hosted by the IGMA Summer Conference the day before the association’s regular committee meetings and educational events start. Separate registration is required.

The trend of ever larger lites of glass in the building envelope extends back to the Roman Empire and the first use of window glass in architecture. Increasing complexity accompanies this trend: larger glazing units are more challenging to produce, handle, transport, support and install. This ongoing amplification of complexity is itself a trend in architectural glass development, which now involves extensive post-processing of raw flat glass by heat treating, coating, laminating, and printing, and the use of glass in an increasing array of complex assemblies including insulating, laminated, photovoltaic, electrochromic, spectrally-selective and decorative products. Where are these trajectories headed? What are the considerations that practitioners must account for in using “big glass?” Join Jeff Heymann of Benson Industries, Yvon Chiasson of Morrison Hershfield, and Roland Rossman of Garibaldi Glass as they explore these issues.

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