Architectural glass - hard to exhibit!

Contemporary architecture is a subject that arouses love, hate and every emotion in between.

Many contemporary buildings - love them or hate them - feature some extraordinary uses of glass. Here are just a few examples: the Health Department headquarters in Bilbao, Spain;  the 'Futurescope' theme park in Poitiers, France; and the National Grand Theatre in Beijing, China. (Look them up on Google 'Images'.)

The Festival of Glass would love to present such spectacular examples of contemporary architectural glass in our glass Expo, but you can't exhibit a building in a gallery! We can learn something from the annual Mansfield Glass Art Exposition, which this year  launched the Axess Glass Architectural Glass Project Award.  This award recognises excellence in the design and execution of a major architectural glass project installed in a building or outdoor setting in the past 5 years. The work entered must have been designed by an Australian-based glass artist or collaborative team and made predominantly of glass.

The judges considered up to 6 electronic images of each work, together with and a statement about the work fits the project brief in terms of, e.g., the building's context, aesthetics and function; together with the relevant standards for the site and conditions, energy efficiency and installation.

Some of the award winners are featured here.

 As a tentative first step into the world of architectural glass, the 2014 Festival of Glass will include a feature on glass and architecture in the 'Glass and Film' event that premieres at the Expo.