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A window for today
Windows have always been at the intersection of various technologies and architectural processes that evolved in parallel and often intertwined. Last century’s breakthroughs in terms of glass and frame allowed the glass to progressively absorb functions traditionally present in other devices ultimately dissolving the window into transparent walls.
Nowadays, smart windows intersect previous technologies with electrically activated materials with dynamic properties augmenting their capacity. In this paper, we speculate on an idea of the window of the future according to state of the art in terms of glass and operable frames.
We argue that a possible outcome of the combination of different technologies — magnetic and dynamic levitation, transparent photovoltaic glass, vacuum insulated glass, switchable glass, piezoelectric touch-sensitive surfaces or ultra-thin glass — might ultimately change the architectural approach to windows.
Written by Carlos Machado e Moura and Pedro Borges de Araújo, this paper was presented at the GPD FINLAND 2019 — Glass Perfomance Days in Tampere.
Read the full paper here or browse all the GPD 2019 Conference Proceedings.
Read the full paper here or browse all the GPD 2019 Conference Proceedings.