Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Much of modern architecture has been conceived using glass to create minimal structures, to extol the notion of lightweight construction solutions and to allow maximum daylight into buildings. However, it is only in the last 15 years that the full potential of glass architecture has been realised. Brent Richards demonstrates that a new aesthetic in glass architecture has arrived, one that emphasizes opacity, depth, discovery, mystery and shadow and uses glass to generate a multi-sensory experience. The book begins with an introduction that traces the history of the key moments of glass in architecture and describes developments in glass technology over the last 20 years. It goes on to feature 25 recent examples of glass architecture, with specially commissioned colour photographs by the renowned architectural photographer Dennis Gilbert.

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Library Journal Review

Great strides have been made in glass technology in recent years, such that the visionary but unfeasible design concepts of earlier generations can now be realized and surpassed by today's architects. Richards (architect & director, Design Laboratory, Central St. Martins Coll. of Art & Design) presents 25 beautifully illustrated "case studies," all landmark buildings of the last decade, that exemplify advanced, imaginative, and often environmentally sustainable applications of glass. Concert halls, museums, office towers, private homes, and other structures constitute the judicious but largely Eurocentric selection; it would be quibbling to remark on omissions such as Norman Foster's astounding Reichstag dome (Berlin) or Werner Sobek's acclaimed House R128 (Stuttgart, Germany). Copious images by architectural photographer Gilbert, along with plans and a concise text, highlight the structural and aesthetic use of glass in each case study. With its smattering of postmodernist philosophy and sprinkling of technical jargon, this book lies somewhere between the professional/trade literature and popular coffee-table treatments like James Trulove's The New Glass House. Academic and architecture collections owning Michael Wigginton's Glass in Architecture should consider this as an update.-David Solt?sz, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.