Falling Glass

Aug 27th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

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 [...]



Innovative Designs

Aug 6th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

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 [...]



Up, Up and Away

Jul 24th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

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, [...]



The Mind Reels

Jul 11th, 2008| By| Category:Uncategorized

Unless you’ve had your head under a rock for the past month, you must have heard of architect David Fisher’s plans to build an 80-story structure in Dubai. The attention-getting feature of this building is that each floor will rotate independently giving the structure an infinitely changing appearance. Well, I say why not. Architectural design [...]



A Best List

Jun 26th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

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 [...]



AIA, CSI or Both

Jun 12th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

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 [...]



The Museum Man

May 22nd, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

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 [...]



See You in Boston

May 8th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

I’ll be off next week to Boston for the AIA Convention and Show. I hope to see you there. If you are attending the show, please stop by our booth, 14165. As we have for the past couple of years, we will be right next to the Glass Association of North America (GANA) booth, so [...]



Glass Then and Now

Apr 24th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

Two recent articles in The New York Times caught my attention because of their focus on architecture and the glass used in it. The “Then” article subject was the sale of the Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs corporate complex in Holmdel, N.J., which occupies a 473-acre site. The article explains, “A decade ago, as many as 6,500 [...]



Why Not a Restaurant at the Top of the Bridge?

Apr 10th, 2008| By| Category:As I See It, Uncategorized

The George Washington Bridge in New York City, along with the Golden Gate on the other coast, is recognized as a great engineering achievement and example of good design. As I mentioned previously, I can set in my apartment and look at this marvel, which is indeed beautiful, but contains no glass. Originally, that was [...]