by Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!!-A Paul Scheerbart Reader Josiah McElheny
but steadily completely transforming life on the surface of the earth.
The changes brought about by the steam train have not been so
significant and far-reaching as those which glass and iron construc-
tion is bound to produce. The crucial factor in this is undoubtably
reinforced concrete.
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Reinforced concrete and the architecture of fences
Reinforced concrete can be a few centimeters thick, and is very con-
venient to use for fences. If it is treated artistically, with enamel and
glass mosaic or embellished with niello ornamentation, areas with
such concrete boundary fences can easily be converted into places
of recreation.
In the architecture of fences reinforced concrete has a great part
to play.
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Terraces
In higher glass buildings, where there are several storeys, the terrace-
form is beyond question a necessity, for otherwise the glazed surfaces
do not touch the sunlit air but can only fulfil their purpose at night
and not by day. These terrace-form storeys will naturally oust the
tedious façade-architecture of brick houses.
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View-points
One imagines the view-points, from which nowadays we can survey
a town or landscape. These view-points will show us quite different
pictures, when glass architecture has become general and all vehicles
(even the flying ones) reveal the full possibilities of coloured glass.
One must simply try to make such view-points clear to visualise. It is
not easy, but the imagination soon adapts itself in the end to giving
more than isolated details.
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Glass in factory buildings
To have a comprehensive picture of the glass architecture world, it is
essential also to think of factory buildings in glass. There will be no
question of immediately destroying brick structures everywhere, but
at first the brick will be faced with glass materials and glazes — and
glass garden pavilions will be put on the roofs, etc.
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Market halls entirely of glass and iron
It is well known that market halls are already being built entirely of
glass and iron. Missing only are the double walls and ornamental
colour. It is not fanciful, however, to assume that both these will
come soon. A total architecture of glass and iron cannot be far off.
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Churches and temples
In Europe the larger church buildings are very well planned and
executed as a result of the unnatural concentration of people in
larger towns. Whether it will be possible in this field to impose a
purely glass and iron architecture in individual cases by rejecting
brick, I do not know. But I do know well that the greater cheapness
of glass and iron building must help towards success; we shall only
have this greater cheapness when a larger number of firms are in
competition — and for that we must wait. The free churches of America
may well be the first to build glass temples, thus making a good step
forward for glass architecture in the religious sphere.
It ought to be stressed here that the whole of glass architecture
stems from the Gothic cathedrals. Without them it would be unthink-
able; the Gothic cathedral is the prelude.
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Club and sports buildings
Club and sports buildings are today being erected in large numbers.
As these are almost always the concern of well-to-do societies, glass
architects would do well to pay closer attention to them; the advan-
tages of glass architecture for rooms mainly used for social occasions
are obvious.
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Militarism and brick architecture
So often only the obnoxious side of militarism is alluded to; but there
is also a good one. It consists in the fact that, with the significant
advent of the ‘dirigible’ aerial torpedo, it inevitably draws attention
to the dangers of brick architecture; if a brick church tower is struck
low down by a torpedo, it will in every case collapse, kill many people
and reduce an entire group of buildings to rubble.
If, therefore, militarism evolves logically, it is bound to bring our
brick culture into disrepute; this is its good side, and one constantly
emphasized, especially by those tired of living as ‘brick-dwellers’. A
glass tower, when it is supported by more than four metal piers, will
not be destroyed by an aerial torpedo; a few iron members will be
bent, and a number of glass panels will have holes or cracks, but
such damage is simple to repair.
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Parliament buildings
What has just been said about glass towers applies also to parliament
buildings built entirely of steel and glass. In wartime these, too, are
much more resistant to damage than the old parliament building of
brick faced with sandstone. To many this claim will seem very para-
doxical, but it is quite logical. Dynamite can only damage a glass
house partially; in relation to the whole it is fairly harmless. It needs
a hailstorm of dynamite bombs to destroy a larger building made of
glass and iron.
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Restaurants, cafés, hotels and sanatoria
It seem to me to beyond question that restaurants, cafes and hotels
will be the first to show an interest in glass architecture, in order to
attract a larger public, who always have plenty to spend on anything
new. Sanatoria also will want glass buildings; the influence of splen-
did glass architecture on the nerves is indisputable.
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Transportable buildings
Transportable glass buildings can be produced as well. They are
particularly suitable for exhibition purposes. Transportable buildings
of this type are not easy to make.
But one must not forget that, in a new movement, the most difficult
step is often the first.
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The future inventor, and the materials
which could compete with glass
To earn a lot of money by inventions is not exactly easy. All the
same, as I am bound to concede at once, the number of inventors
grows daily; while many inventors lose all their goods and chattels
and achieve nothing, the others are not deterred. Despite everything,
however, the amply provided inventor is, in the long run, a very rare
exception. Failure has its humorous side, and, so long as this is so,
things are not so bad. But that is by the way. Nevertheless, it cannot
be doubted that inventors — for their number, as we have said, is
constantly growing — could or should have a great future.
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The timelessness of ornamental glass and glass mosaic
Meanwhile, since we do not yet have the better, we must put up with
the good, and this good is glass and ornamental glass mounted in
lead, glass mosaic, and enamel. These glorious materials have not
been outmoded by time; they have survived hundreds and thousands
of years. It is regrettable that they have not been pr
otected from
infamous hands, but tough granite, which was used to face Egyptian
pyramids, has fared no better, and has also been stolen.
But this is no place for lamentations; our hope is that glass archi-
tecture will also improve mankind in ethical respects. It seems to
me that this is a principal merit of lustrous, colourful, mystical and
noble glass walls. This quality appears to me not just an illusion,
but something very real; the man who sees the splendours of glass
every day cannot have ignoble hands.
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Exhibition buildings in America and Europe
In the past twenty years we in Europe have frequently heard fabu-
lous tales of American glass buildings. In part, these have certainly
been only the idle fancies of reporters, but there may well be a
grain of truth in them. Tiffany plays a great part in America, and the
Americans are very well disposed to glass things. It would be very
interesting to know what is planned in glass for the World Exhibition
of 1915 in San Francisco.
In my opinion the exhibition buildings in America must differ con-
siderably from those in Europe. The American bridge constructions
at Niagara Fal s are at all events so magnificent that an exhibition
hall, if it is built of iron and glass, should also reveal impressive
dimensions. Whether it will be double-walled with coloured decora-
tion, we do not yet know.
America is also the chief country for impressive giant buildings;
the Pan-American Railroad, which is intended to protect the North
and South against military attacks from East and West, is at present
probably the greatest engineering work on earth.
A hope lies here that America might also tackle the greatest
architectural work on earth. May it be composed of iron with glass
of every colour.
Europe is too conservative and slow.
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Experimental site for glass architecture
Glass-painters never fix the glass pieces with lead, without first test-
ing the effect experimentally. This is done with all new designs. The
full effect cannot be appreciated in the imagination. For the same
reason, experiment is also essential for glass buildings. We need an
experimental site for the purpose. It would be advisable for such a
site to be provided by private enterprise rather than by the state. The
latter brings in its official architects, who unhappily are rarely artists
and are incapable of becoming so overnight.
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A permanent exhibition of glass architecture
A glass architecture exhibition would have to be linked to the exper-
imental site, and it would have to be permanent. Glass architecture
can only be effectively promoted if every new idea can be exhibited
at the same time, and all those interested can constantly order or
buy on the spot whatever is best or newest.
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The crystal room illuminated by translucent floors
At the exhibition, particular attention would have to be given to the
lighting tests. We do not yet know, for example, what the effect would
be of a room lit by translucent floors. One could discuss lights for
ever, but things like flooring, and many other ideas, would have to
be tested. In my view a Glass Building Association would have to
make capital available for the site and exhibition. If the interest were
general, the association would soon be formed.
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Metal filigree with enamel inlay hung
in front of crude reinforced concrete
Many experiments could be imagined; the choice is almost unlimited.
Particular thought must be given to overcoming the crudeness of
reinforced concrete: filigree ornament with enamel inlay is perhaps
worth considering. It would look like a piece of jewelry, on a large
scale. Much of glass architecture concerns the jeweler, and jewels
should be transposed from necks and arms on to walls. For the time
being, ladies are not going to allow this because they are afraid of
losing their share of adornment. It is one of the most unpleasant
things about many new movements, that the first thing everybody
asks is: can it be harmful to me? The old fear of competition is in all
things a far from pleasant phenomenon, even in art. The oil-colour
manufacturers are undoubtedly opponents of glass-painting, because
they cannot make anything out of it.
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The aeronaut’s house with airship models on the roof
Let’s turn to something pleasanter! In my opinion, air-navigation will
be eager to build an aeronaut’s house in the restaurant garden of the
exhibition, with airship models projecting little mobile lights fixed
to the domed roof. This would be a variant of the Seeschifferhaus
at Bremen. To immortalise aircraft models in this way would be of
great interest to the aeronautical profession, and would lie very close
to its heart.
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Soft lighting
It must be repeated that efforts should not be directed towards achiev-
ing greater brightness in lighting, for we have got that already. We
should think all the time of the softening of light in choosing colours.
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Twilight effects
Incidentally, we should consider introducing light behind coloured
glass panels into a few corners, even in bright sunshine. It produces
wonderful twilight effects during the dusk and dawn hours. A great
many lighting experiments will, of course, be necessary.
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Lighthouses and shipping
When new lighthouses have to be built, the glass architect must see
to it that in the immediate future glass architecture is adopted on a
large scale. Since lighthouses generally stand on high eminences,
it is undoubtedly cheaper than designs in brick, where the frightful
labour of lifting such material to the site disqualifies them. Building
will unquestionably be cheaper with the simple equipment needed
for carrying up metal and glass. This must be repeatedly emphasized.
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Airports as glass palaces
For the building of airports, also, glass-iron construction has much
to recommend it; airports must be visible and identifiable from far
off and this is best achieved by coloured ornamental glass. This will
reach its full effect at night, when the entire building is crowned by
a diadem of projected lights, delighting not only the aeronauts, but
also people who have no airship at their bidding.
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Light nights, when glass architecture comes
It seems easy to say that something is indescribable, but of those light
nights which glass architecture must bring us, there is nothing else
left for us to say except that they are truly indescribable. One thinks
of the lights shining from all the glass towers and in every aircraft,
and one thinks of these lights in all their many colours. One thinks
of the railway trains all gaily lighted, and one adds the factories in
which at night, too, the light shines thr
ough coloured panes. Then
one thinks of the great palaces and cathedrals of glass and the villas
of glass, and of the town-like structures, on solid land and in the
water — often in movement — and of ever more water in ever different
colours. On Venus and Mars they will stare in wonder and no longer
recognize the surface of the earth.
Perhaps men will live more by night than by day. Astronomers will
erect their observatories in quiet mountain ravines and on peaks,
because the huge sea of coloured light may disturb the study of the
heavens.
This is not a modern concept — the great Gothic master-builders
thought of it first. We must not forget that.
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The brilliant (diamond) effect in architecture
Brilliants are treasured on the hands and neck, but in architecture
the diamond effect is by no means prized. I suggest that this only
happens because the brilliant is too small and architecture is too big.
Large glass brilliants, however, can be produced of pumpkin size,
without becoming too expensive. Wil architecture despise the bril iant
effect, when glass can be seen everywhere in large quantities? That
seems to me unlikely. It is no argument against coloured glass that
primitive people and small children are enraptured by it.
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Three-dimensional and two-dimensional
ornament in architecture
In the Alhambra, we mostly find three-dimensional ornament, but of
perishable plaster-work. Glass architecture can also use such orna-
ment, but of imperishable glass materials. The most delicate blown
decoration is made of glass, even of frosted and filigree glass. This
kind of plastic art for the ornamental glass wal should admittedly
only be considered for formal rooms; there it is entirely feasible
and not merely a figment of the imagination. Venice is no longer
the pinnacle of glass culture, although it has contributed much that
often obliges one to return to it later. I do not recommend copies,
but it certainly seems to me that the splendours of Venetian glass,
as reflected in particular by the palaces of Isola Bella, are valuable
sources of inspiration. One often forgets that present-day Italy, with-
out glass, real y has very little attraction.
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The transformation of fireworks
When there is more glass everywhere, fireworks will be transformed;
thousands of reflection effects will be possible. But this chapter must
