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Glafo, PG Vejdes väg 15,
SE-351 96 Växjö
SWEDEN

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Vejdes plats 3

Tel: +46 10 516 63 50
E-mail: info@glafo.se

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UTOPIA?! CONSTRUCTIONS WITH COLUMNS AND BEAMS IN GLASS


The purpose is to investigate the possibility of creating buildings with supporting frames of industrially manufactured glass pillars and beams.

Background
To create, from an architectural standpoint, exciting, transparent effects in glass that meet modern day demands for lightweight, slimline construction, providing light, airy environments. Glass is increasingly being used as a facade material, but using it for supporting beams and columns enables completely new forms of expression both internally and externally.

Up till now supporting glass structures have only been used in occasional special building projects that exploit the properties and possibilities presented by glass in a new way. Today's national and international regulations for glass construction have shortcomings in terms of design values, standards and calculation methods. In many cases there is also a lack of deep knowledge concerning the best ways of joining glass to other materials. A small number of projects have shown that beams and pillars in glass function practically, and these have resulted in fantastic buildings.

The purpose of this hypothetical test project is to research the possibilities for construction systems with beams and pillars in glass and to investigate the shortcomings in regulations and technical conditions that are today preventing the development of potential that has been identified by both industry and academic institutions. Armed with this, we can move on to formulate the problems that need to be solved to enable the implementation of product development and production of glass pillars and beams in Sweden. We see lots of possibilities but also many obstacles.

The hope is that this hypothetical test will prepare the way for the Swedish manufacture of internationally competitive, world-class construction systems based on pillars and beams in glass by 2025.

The project will run throughout 2010.

Financier:

CURRENT PROJECTS