The recent glasstec show, which I attended in Dusseldorf, Germany, is the architectural glass and metal industry’s largest event. It also has actively reached out to architects for a number of years, to educate them on the increasing architectural capabilities of the material.   This year, possibly more than ever before, the event showcased architectural [...]

The September 15 issue of New York magazine may have featured all the current presidential-race personalities on its cover, with six pages devoted to the article, but a little further into the issue was an architectural critique, building by building, examining what impact the last building boom has had on the city. Headlined The Glass [...]

After the press briefing last week at the Museum of Arts and Design’s new quarters at New York City’s Columbus Circle, I saw architect Brad Cloepfil waiting for an elevator with some MAD executives. I introduced myself and asked him what his thoughts had been about how he would use glass when he did the design. “We [...]

In a column in the August 24 Arts and Leisure section of The New York Times, Roberta Smith discussed the current resurgence in public art, specifically sculpture. Ms Smith said that while there was more of this type of art being created, not all of it is good. On the positive side, she did place [...]

How clumsy have they gotten in the Big Apple where it seems glass is raining out of the sky? Call it coincidence, but large lites of glass have been falling from buildings in New York City at an alarming rate in the last couple of weeks. What is going on? Are glaziers getting clumsy and [...]

I am finishing up the text for the next issue, September/October, of the Architects’ Guide to Glass and Metal, and our lead article reports on innovative glass designs. I am amazed when working on all the issues of the magazine at how much innovative design is being done with architectural glass and metal. In the [...]

I love to travel and I have been fortunate enough to take tours offered by Smithsonian Journeys, the travel operation branch of the Washington, D.C. based museum. These tours have been the finest and most interesting I’ve taken in my nearly 40 years of traveling. Even the tour I took with the Smithsonian to China, [...]

A recent issue of New York magazine commemorated its 40th anniversary and included best-of-the-best lists for various categories in the four decades it has been published. Lists like these are one of our great secret guilty pleasures even though most people make fun of them. We all read them to see who/what got included and [...]

Within the last month, I’ve been to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) convention and show in Boston and the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) convention and the new Construct show in Las Vegas, which took place last week. I’ve been going to the AIA show for a number of years, and had gone to the [...]

I saw Ted Hathaway, president and chief executive officer of Oldcastle Glass, recently at his midtown Manhattan offices. Those spacious, light-filled offices at Columbus Circle overlook Central Park and the new home of the Museum of Arts and Design. Ted has a special attachment to this structure because he joined the museum’s board of trustees [...]