Industry Overview and Trends
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For centuries, glassblowers tried to get the imperfections out of their handblown stained-glass windows. Then technology made perfection possible. "Now homeowners seem to want the imperfections back," says designer John Everage of Santa Monica, Calif. He's one of many architects and designers who say their clients increasingly ask for handmade stained-glass windows that are designed, built and installed almost exactly the way it was done 900 years ago. Whether for a faux chateau, a pseudo palazzo, or a super-sized Craftsman, custom stained-glass windows made with handblown glass are now considered the ultimate finishing touch in some of Los Angeles' most lavish new homes.
With their subtle waviness and tiny bubbles (a tip-off that the glass was made by humans, not machines), the windows are luxury items in the extreme: Each set is unique, designed specifically for the site, created to blend with the architecture and the homeowner's artistic preferences. Like jewels with a couture outfit, they exude artistry or a patina of Old World elegance that completes the architect's vision and perhaps the homeowners' fantasy of living in a different place and time… Don't be misled by terminology. Today the term "stained glass" -- interchangeable with "art glass" or "leaded glass" -- is used in home design to mean high-quality, custom-made leaded glass windows that may have bits of color or no color at all. The windows look nothing like the brilliant old church windows usually associated with the words "stained glass." Nor do they resemble the craftsy amateur oddities that had a hippie heyday in the '60s and '70s, causing the entire genre to lose favor with much of the public for 20 years. Architects and designers say most windows they commission for new homes are predominantly clear, to allow in undiluted light. Or they can be clear mixed with any of dozens of textured glasses that are used to blur visibility and create privacy where needed, eliminating the need for shutters or drapes…
Windows designed by Tuna, whose Glass Visions studio is near Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, can be whimsical and contemporary or seriously Old World and ornate depending on the preferences of the homeowners and their designers. "Some want complicated leaded-glass patterns. Others want simple clear windows with color used sparely as artistic punctuation." The glass, often handblown in Europe, is just a starting point. How the lead is sculptured -- narrow or plump, straight or curvy -- is equally important to a design, he says. The trend back to handmade stained-glass residential windows seems to be nationwide, says Richard Gross of the Stained Glass Association of America and editor of the Stained Glass Quarterly. "People are rediscovering stained glass as an art form; it's no longer a cliche." Still, it's an acquired taste. Gross says in the United States there are fewer than 100 full-service stained-glass studios where glass is designed, fabricated or restored. Most of those firms specialize in church work, he says.
Source: Levine, Bettijane. "Stained Glass Art Is 'In' for Prestige Homes." Los Angeles Times 25 Jun. 2007, Lifestyle: Access World News. NewsBank. University of Texas at San Antonio, John Peace Library. San Antonio, TX. 15 Apr 2009
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Gray is one of 101 people who work for Dale Chihuly, the undisputed king of the glass art world, a man whose drive, vision, charisma and multimillion-dollar glass empire have helped make Seattle the glass art capital of the world. The school he founded with two patrons 50 miles north of Seattle in 1971 -- Pilchuck Glass School -- and his own hot shop have trained glass artists who have stayed in the region and started their own shops, creating an industry that employs more than 3,000 people, even more, Chihuly says, than Venice, Italy. His output is prodigious, enabled by a teamwork approach not unlike Warhol's Factory and Tiffany Studios. At 65, Chihuly directs the work through drawings and verbal and visual cues but no longer physically makes it. That irks his critics, who wonder if all of the work he signs is actually his… It's kind of a moot point; he could never blow enough glass these days to meet the demand. Over four decades, Chihuly's work has evolved from small studio pieces to architectural installations on a grand scale, such as a pedestrian bridge in his native Tacoma and a glass ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, featuring hundreds of pieces in his "Persians" series, which can take on the shape of a petunia or lily pad. If the latter seems too crassly commercial a commission, here's another way to look at it: Chihuly, whose vessels, prints, drawings, books and videos are for sale at the resort, is bringing beauty and enlightenment to the masses.
Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07126/783190-42.stm
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AGC Flat Glass North America will temporarily lay off 100 employees at its Blue Ridge Plant in Kingsport, the company announced Monday. Chris Correnti, AGC vice president, general counsel and secretary, said the Kingsport plant, which manufactures pattern glass for the solar industry, serves much of the export market. “And unfortunately the demand has fallen worldwide, and expectations are that it won’t come back in the near future,” Correnti said. AGC manufactures glass for the building products industry at its Church Hill plant. Last spring, the company shut down one of two production lines at the facility and laid off about 250 people. Earlier this year, AGC laid off more than 30 employees at the Church Hill plant. AGC Chief Executive Officer Brad Kitterman has said the company is investing in a coater at the Church Hill facility to allow it to produce a broader range of coated products. Kitterman said he also hopes to restart the plant’s second line but hasn’t received formal approval from the company’s board of directors.
Source: http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9011647
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Creating a switchable glazing for windows that is durable, scalable and cheap enough to use in constructing buildings has been something of a holy grail in energy efficiency -- and a little-known company in Faribault is leading the way. Sage Electrochromics Inc. applies an ultra-thin ceramic coating made from tungsten oxide on the inside surface of the outer pane of double-paned glass. At the push of a button, a user can send a low voltage electrical current through the ceramic coating that causes lithium ions to move and darken the glass in a few minutes. Installed, SageGlass is two to three times as expensive as conventional commercial glass, but it reduces electricity demand by cutting down on air conditioning and lighting. Founder John Van Dine, who moved his company to Faribault from New Jersey in 1998, said SageGlass can reduce cooling bills as much as 20 percent and save as much as 60 percent on lighting, compared to conventional tinted glass. Van Dine's company is the only manufacturer in the U.S. selling electrochromic glass for use in constructing building exteriors, according to researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, the California research lab that tested SageGlass.
Two other types of smart glass technology are on the market for architectural use but their use is more limited, according to Sage… Sage's main focus, however, isn't the home construction market but the commercial market. Van Dine said he primarily markets to the architects across the country who specify the type of glass to be used in their designs. Sage advertises in magazines such as Architectural Record, calls on architects to give presentations and exhibits at the American Institute of Architects annual convention and Greenbuild, a major green building expo. And it's riding a green wave in commercial construction. Simple as it seems, lighting buildings with available daylight is a major concept in designing green buildings. Buildings score points toward the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification when daylighting is incorporated. Architects recognize that people crave natural sunlight and want to maintain a connection with nature when they're inside buildings, Van Dine said.
Source: Bjorhus, Jennifer. "Cool glass, with smarts." St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) 13 Jul. 2008, Business: D8. Access World News. NewsBank. University of Texas at San Antonio, John Peace Library. San Antonio, TX. 15 Apr 2009
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