Glasarchitektur: From Utopia To Engineering / L'architettura di Vetro Dall'Avanguardia alla tecnica contemporanea

The use of glass in contemporary architectures is altering the aspect and the perception of buildings by substantially diminishing the presence of opaque materials. At the beginning of the last century, the utopian visions of Scheerbart and Taut, founded on the celebration of glass, encouraged the belief that it could be the material of the future. After a century, thanks to the technological developments (especially in the energetic field) and the mechanical improvements (controlled production, tempering, lamination), it is possible to use glass as shading, building envelope and finally for structural purposes. In this regard, the progress-driven were some outstanding designer who used such material in even more ambitious and unconventional ways. The paper focuses on the historical and technological developments of glass architecture and glass manufacture. Then it discusses the Utopian visions and finally shows the actual possibilities to realize building components and structural members.