Page 43 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

safety of this laminated product, as the first layer
shattering into small fragments is counteracted
by the second breaking into pieces. As a result,
it can be used for parapets 30 and glass floor
elements. The use of this glass has been manda-
tory for all overhanging glazing, such as cano-
pies, since 2014 and now also for large vertical
panes in public spaces and in areas at risk from
tornadoes and typhoons.

However, its poor mechanical performance in
relation to its cost means that it is often used only
sparingly, for one “high point” or other in the
construction. This is exactly how I used it for the
small glass roof cupola, providing a view of the
polished stainless steel weather vane designed
by Olivier Strebelle, on a small wooden building
in Waterloo 31. In common with the mirrors that
I talk about below, this weather vane reflects the
sun’s rays into the meeting room on the second

progress in terms of adhesives) using a fine mesh net of para-
aramid filaments, the strength of which is equal to that of the
best steels but whose thermal coefficient is that of ordinary
glass, or even borosilicate glass, which would eliminate the
faults of steel reinforced glass.
30 For me, I prefer using perforated sheet as described below.
31 I discovered at his home, in around 1985, models of monumen-

tal sculptures that he was not able to produce for Sart-Tilman
and benefited from this small weather vane to test the device
on a smaller scale before asking him to produce the three large
ones that stand atop the mound that I created at Shell’s Chemi-
cal Research Centre (CRCSL) in Louvain-la-Neuve; p: 1986,
c: 1987-1988 — (01/160).

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