I would be happy if glass blocks were never used again. I have always hated them, everywhere, every time, every circumstance, forever and ever in perpetuity.
Person I don’t know: “Howdy, sure is nice weather we’re having ain’t it?”
Me: “Glass blocks are terrible and should never be used again”
I blame architect Pierre Charreau and Maison de Verre by for starting this fascination with glass block. Maison de Verre (House of Glass) was built in 1932 and was constructed in the early modern style. (I wrote a post of the working man’s rules of modernism here). Maison de Verre stressed honesty of materials, adoption of the machine aesthetic, express the structure of the building, and rejection of ornamentation. This is actually a really great house and a case study of early modernism. This project warrants attention now for many reasons, most notably could be that it is a urban adaptive re-use and renovation of an existing building. The patron owner had wanted to tear the entire building down but the tenant on the top floor refused to sell so Maison de Verre had to be built underneath the top floor.
This is a great project and if glass blocks had never been used again, I would probably still like them. The French invented glass blocks in the early 1900’s and sometime around the 1930’s developments in machine production made a project like Maison de Verre possible. Maybe if you’re French you know how to design with them, otherwise I challenge anyone to show me a project where the use of glass blocks actually improved the architecture where no other building material could have worked with far better results.
So why would someone want to use glass block? It is typically used for creating some sort of visual screen (like glaucoma) between spaces to provide privacy while allowing light to pass through. That description sounds like a window to me, so let’s look at some visual examples of the variety of uses for glass block.
Them: “If only we had a glass block wall here then this space would be great!”
Me: “That chair should have been the bigger priority.”
Why did the family pictures on the wall go away and why did someone think there needed to be a wall here? Do you suppose the person who routinely sat in the chair was worried about being attacked from the rear?
I am going to assume that these are both toilets….unless the designer thought it would be a good idea to have the owner use the toilet, waddle like a duck, sorta hunched down with your pants around your ankles, presumably through the shower space, over to the bidet. There are other clues here that bring the owners taste into question; fuzzy toilet covers, black and white motif, surface mounted track lighting from aisle 12, the subtle ceiling coffers above each toilet (is that a basket of fruit on the right?). I could write an entire piece about this one photo. This could be a bathroom from the movie Scarface.
Aahh, technology has been introduced to update the look of glass block. Hot pink fiber optics always make the right design statement but when combined with the sophistication of glass blocks – unstoppable!
You knew it was just a matter of time before the curved glass block wall made it’s appearance; and just like the wildebeest roaming the serengeti, it’s numbers are in the millions.
This is the very definition of velvet rope design. Have something that doesn’t quite work out? (like a hallway you don’t want people going down that you put in a place where everyone wants to go down – just solve that pesky problem with a velvet rope). The space might not have been very pleasant with half the ceiling over your head is sloping down onto your head so some glass blocks, laid out in a soothing geometric pattern, will let in oodles of natural light and make everything mo’ better. Notice the conflict of angles between the sloping ceiling and the stair-stepping glass blocks. All that is missing from this picture is a dusty fabric plant sitting in a plastic pot. And some ant bait back in that corner.
Have I made my point? Glass bocks should never, ever be used again….unless you’re French.
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just as a point of reference, all the items you identify as issues with film that could be solved by using glass blocks I think I could successfully argue that there is a different solution altogether that isn’t solved by either.
I won’t deny that installing glass blocks is less expensive than installing a window but (at least in 95% of all the instances I discover) cost was not the rate limiting step.
Thanks for your reply, Bob. Evidently I’ve had my share of bad experiences with the film that led me to write this rant.
I did not know that about cost not being the deciding factor, now I am glad I brought it up. In the examples on this posts (particularly the behind the armchair installation) I can see that is not the problem. Unfortunately for my family every penny counts, it was either a window or ceramic floor for the new bathroom. We found glass blocks to be an ok compromise.
I am curious to know your proposed solutions, perhaps one day the time will come when my family or company can take your advice.
None of the glass block photos in this article are mine or of projects I have worked on. The picture where there is glass block behind the armchair is simply non-sensical and is an example of what I meant where the solution is neither glass block -or- a window with film on it. As a rule, nothing should be built using glass blocks (walls, desks, bars, etc.) and if you are watching your costs, glass block for a secure and structurally viable alternative to a window with film on it would have it’s place … but it’s now a financial solution and not an aesthetic one and that changes the dynamics of this conversation entirely.
Can’t stand glass blocks and was trying to think about why. I LOVE glass. But everything I love about glass seems lost or pointless in these blocks….
Thank you for writing this! I was in stitches reading this and nearly fell off the couch. So funny and so true! I was born in the 80s and the memory of my revulsion at glass block is one of my deepest, oldest memories — far predating any knowledge of architecture, design, the alphabet, simple monosyllabic speech and how to use the toilet. I KNEW this horrifying stuff had been extruded directly from the devil’s anus. But PLEASE! Expand this brilliance of yours to a full-length book for the coffee table! Bravo sir!
What about Maastricht’s Academy of Arts & Architecture by Wiel Arets. I think this is one of the best uses of glass block ever made, grid and clarity wise.
looks lovely – but I bet more than half the people who work at Wiel Arets speak French so be default, they should know how to design with glass block (it’s one of my stipulations)
Thank you. Just before I found this my husband and I were having an argument about glass blocks. I feel better now.
It’s not a wall. It’s not a window. It feels inauthentic.
glass block can be great… one just has to know how to use it. ;-))
that is true for just about every construction material that has ever existed EXCEPT glass block. (not talking about glass bricks, those are different)
The world would be a much more attractive place if glass block simply ceased existing.
I feel the same as the author about glass block. It’s soo ugly. Many beautiful glass ma
terials allow light in without a loss of privacy. Use those.
glass block is a ridiculous material – luckily, building technology has advanced to the point were this building product has no reason to exist. Years have passed since I challenged anybody to show me a project where glass block improved the aesthetics of the space … it’s never happened.
From where I’m sitting, if taste and discretion were requirements, you would never use glass block.
Aww, Bob. You just haven’t seen the light yet. Your claim that it’s “ridiculous” is totally unsubstantiated. Apparently you didn’t pay much attention to what I wrote.
… or that you didn’t say anything that changed my mind.
hi Bob, please tell me that glass block is NOT normal in a 1960 midcentury res design? I want to get rid of it but I do not want to destroy something that may have been original in this otherwise inspired home design.
not unless you want your kitchen to look like a diner.
Order Up!
Bob, I will say to you what I say to my 4 year old: Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.
I would concur glass block is ugly relative to glass, and that it is inelegant – however the (irony?) in my google search for “alternatives to glass block” that this as the first link: A trope on how terrible glass block looks with no suggestions for how better to bring outside light into a room, while providing privacy – without using a shade.
Our problem: Lower lever/garden level – small windows – we want light in this room – anyone at bus stop outside can look into level unless we draw shades – shades defeat purpose of window – conundrum.
The image AN.NA posted was terrific – though with no link, I now get to google image search and pray I find something that doesn’t make my house look like a bar from Cocktail.
Success! http://inventorspot.com/articles/translucent_concrete_scientific_marvel_and_brilliant_innovation
the image submitted by An.Na is actually light transmitting concrete and not a glass block so from my perspective, it falls under different criteria. Any place where someone could or would use glass block, you can use regular glass and a frosted film (just look at what 3M has to offer).
You get all the light and none of the retinal burns
You just use bad exemples, that’s really sad. Tadao Ando use it perfectly and he’s not French. I am. But, working on a project in Spain, is it ok for you ?
I didn’t select bad examples, just examples as there are no good examples of glass block. At best, a project might be able to recover from its use of glass block but why run the risk of using it in the first place.
still don’t like it. The 80’s called and said you can keep those glass blocks, they don’t want them back.
I know they are awful, i am looking for an alternative, for a round kitchen wall… I found this, but i would like more depth and more transparency for licht to go trough ……
interesting!
Hi, i’m french, and i’m not an exception : in France too we hate ” les pavés de verre “. But keep cool lucky american guys, because here, we are constantly assaulted by these visual insults.
The Maison Hermes at first pass fails because of the glass block – but – maybe I should allow myself some latitude to take scale into consideration. At a certain point – and Maison Hermes and Maison de Verre are perfect examples of this – the scale of these buildings and the volume of glass block that they use transform the individual product into something else.
Borson is a terrific dog name, I think you should encourage that into reality.
Cheers
It’s okay Bob; ease your way out of your panic attack. I like glass blocks in my house. They just work.
Hi Tony – based on the quantity of glass blocks being sold, I knew someone must be buying them, it just won’t ever be me.
Different strokes…
love glass bricks – hate glass blocks
I totally agree with you – sadly, our 110 year old home has a huge glass block window in the dining room. I am searching for ways to hide it decoratively until we come up with another solution. Our design sensibilities are minimal and modern – any ideas?
replace the glass blocks with a single solid pane window. If you need privacy (although doubtful in a dining room) you can always put a 3M film on it.
I do not hate glass block. PPG employs many people who live worthwhile lives making glass block every day. Other people make their living shipping the block to various places. In these dark days, gainful employment is its own reward.
However, I cannot say the same about those who actually use GB.
Both on the designs and the construction side, the fundamental problem is that no one seems to appreciate that GB do not just “fit” a modularity; they are the module. If you are willing to design to an exact 203mm grid (Mais. de Verre used 200 IIRC) then, all of the products will find harmony to that grid module. US architecture, and the construction industry it supports does not much work to millimetric precision.
And, glass–especially GB–do not much stretch to fit.
The crime is in the use, not the tool.
C’mon now Mark, don’t make it sound like I hate the people who make glass blocks!
But glass blocks, despite the awesomeness of the people who made them, still suck. As soon as I see an example where actual glass blocks were used in an application that was beautiful instead of just practical, and then show me a hundred more, I probably won’t be changing my mind anytime soon.
Nah, no intent to suggest malice on your part–more a mere suggestion that there can be good within a given bad.
So, it’s a bit like RACO, fascinating idea that has, really, only one exact way to be used. Which seems to guarantee that it’s always required to be used in a different way.
Like insisting that GB used in something that has, oh, a lowest-common-denominator module of 2-13/35″ (or a prime number quantity of millimeters).
I saw that and shared it on the LoaA Facebook Page – technically though it is a block of glass and not a glass block. 🙂
heheheh this was an extremely funny post
in Algeria, they call it “nevada” … it is so ugly, what makes it worse is how they build it … a disaster … it is never well done + out of place… when i was young it used to frustrate me; it is made of glass but we can not see through :D…
Bah! While I am distinctly un-fond of glass block, your use of the Maison de Verre as the icon for your anti-glass block tirade is pure flame-baitery! Uh, so… here I am flaming away! grrrrr!!!!
(Also, while Charreau was a fantastic designer, he did the MdV with Dutch Architect Bernard Bijvoet. When you compare Charreau’s work before and after the MdV versus Bijvoet’s work with Jan Duiker before and others after, it seems odd to not give Bijvoet the majority of the credit for this masterpiece…)
I don’t know about flame-baitery … it’s an iconic image of glass block done properly. If I could have found another good example (which is sort of the point of this post – there aren’t any others) I might have used it.
I will have to look into Bijvoet – I am not familiar with his work either before or after MdV.
Cheers
I was looking for something to help convince my French husband that we do NOT want a glass block wall in our Parisian bathroom. Thank you for providing the laughs and the images! That being said, we are almost finished renovating a small Paris studio apartment (230 sqft) and we have used glass blocks very sparingly. I let my husband and the French contractor make the recommendations since it’s rental property AND the contractor is used to working with very small light-challenged spaces. I wanted another material, but I have to admit, the blocks came out pretty well.
I’m convinced. I hate them with a white hot passion, now. In fact, I think I hate all windows. I’m not sure I can even use a drinking glass anymore. I am giving my reading glasses a pass, because I like books, but all other glass is the devil.
When the day comes that I hire you, rest assured, there will be no windows of any sort!
It’s not that I disagree with you. I hate glass block as well. But, in my discussions with most home owners they just don’t understand why an architect would hate glass block. Most builders and home owners confuse something shiny or freshly painted with good design. Glass block is what a lot of people think of when stepping away from the ordinary design and going with something new and unique.
i hate glass block SO bad… i have no words. btw, i literally choked when i saw your before and after photo post of the newly “defined entry” with the glass block wall… classic! 😉
Take a look at the Ishihara House by Tadao Ando. One of his finest houses from the late 1970s when he was doing his best work and before he sold out. Incredible use of glass blocks. As the SEALs say, it’s not the weapon, it’s the operator.
It does seem that glass blocks should only be used by the ‘masters’. There is another small example of the ‘good’ that I know of here in charlottesville. WG Clark designed his own house with what would seem as a nod to Pierre.
agreed entirely. glass blocks have the advantages of neither glass nor blocks. but don’t blame poor pierre chareau! those glazed panels in the maison de, are not glass blocks but thin panels in metal frames, with some ridges and those circular reliefs for rigidity and translucency (i think it was called ‘arizona glass’ for inscrutable reasons…; but it’s a curtain wall. …love the blog, a great read…
agreed entirely. glass blocks have the advantages of neither glass nor blocks. but don’t blame poor pierre chareau! those glazed panels in the maison de, are not glass blocks but thin panels in metal frames, with some ridges and those circular reliefs for rigidity and translucency (i think it was called ‘arizona glass’ for inscrutable reasons…; but it’s a curtain wall. …love the blog, a great read…
Thank you for expressing truth in spite of popular disbeleif. I have been installing baths and kitchens here in France for nearly 30 yrs, and as of yet
– I have not found anybody, ever, capable of setting glass bricks to the right detail
– I do not think I have seen either domestic or public installations that are ameliorated by glass blocs over some other way of looking at things.
I would add that it seems quite frustrating to have the “perfect brick” an isolated wall that permeates light… and have no way to use it.
Worse, the latest idiocy are tinted glass bricks that somehow all look like used toilet paper, some TV “home” decorator came up with the great idea of punching holes in bathroom walls and sticking randomly placed spots of icky color… (usually they then ask you to tile around them!)
I have seen some interesting works, one is a loft in “le Pré St Gervais” outside Paris by an architect named Salomon (don’t remember his first name) rounded glass brick coursives, stainless steel and cold grey to black tones. Nice in a book…
great post! i too dislike glass block. you say that only the french know how to use it well. i would like to see it for myself. can you post pics of glass blocks that actually look nice? thanks
Look up ‘Maison de Verre’ and you will see a project that made glass blocks look good.
It would make me happy if it just disappeared too! It’s absolutely awful! And it can never be made right….NEVER! LOL
I must admit, I owned a glass block once. Just one, mind you. I bought it from some architectural salvagers for around 3 bucks, cleaned it off, and stuck it on the book case. It actually looked quite nice, I thought. It should be noted that as soon as I brought it home, I gave it a firm talking-to and told it that if he ever invited any of his friends over to build forts, he was going back to the salvage yard.
I must admit, I owned a glass block once. Just one, mind you. I bought it from some architectural salvagers for around 3 bucks, cleaned it off, and stuck it on the book case. It actually looked quite nice, I thought. It should be noted that as soon as I brought it home, I gave it a firm talking-to and told it that if he ever invited any of his friends over to build forts, he was going back to the salvage yard.
I can see right through that post – well, through a glass block darkly, perhaps.
Something terrible happened to you when you were small and lost in a metro bus station or you were struck in the head by your college roomate’s block-and-board bookcase when it collapsed one night or you lost a lot of money in the Owens-Corning stock debacle in the 80’s…
Besides, I have been accused of “going French” before…
Liberty blocks maybe?
I hit myself on the head (hard) when I was about 5 years old – right before I decided to be an architect (OooooooOooOOo)
I can see right through that post – well, through a glass block darkly, perhaps.
Something terrible happened to you when you were small and lost in a metro bus station or you were struck in the head by your college roomate’s block-and-board bookcase when it collapsed one night or you lost a lot of money in the Owens-Corning stock debacle in the 80’s…
Besides, I have been accused of “going French” before…
Liberty blocks maybe?
I hit myself on the head (hard) when I was about 5 years old – right before I decided to be an architect (OooooooOooOOo)
Ok had to weigh in on this one…not sure how I missed it! I just demo’d a lovely aztec design in glass blocks…and put in a window. what a concept! Next week, we demo a NEW glass block boo boo….that is in the round…the entire bathroom is hideous and even 15 yrs ago when built should have been considered malpractice on someone’s part….
Thanks for doing your part – by uniting in a common cause we can rid the world (except in France….) of the terrible glass block.
Ok had to weigh in on this one…not sure how I missed it! I just demo’d a lovely aztec design in glass blocks…and put in a window. what a concept! Next week, we demo a NEW glass block boo boo….that is in the round…the entire bathroom is hideous and even 15 yrs ago when built should have been considered malpractice on someone’s part….
Thanks for doing your part – by uniting in a common cause we can rid the world (except in France….) of the terrible glass block.
Kelly – maybe we have just discovered the real cause for glaucoma! The really funny thing about these photos is that they were almost the first 5 images that came up during my search. I had about a dozen more images but thought my posts are already too long!
Kelly – maybe we have just discovered the real cause for glaucoma! The really funny thing about these photos is that they were almost the first 5 images that came up during my search. I had about a dozen more images but thought my posts are already too long!
*laughing* Tell us how you really feel!
Just had a potential client ask me about it for her master bath. I said there are other choices that would be a better fit.
We’re in the business so we know the options; most clients don’t or they see the design (that you’ve scarred my retinas with FOREVER!) pictured above.
*laughing* Tell us how you really feel!
Just had a potential client ask me about it for her master bath. I said there are other choices that would be a better fit.
We’re in the business so we know the options; most clients don’t or they see the design (that you’ve scarred my retinas with FOREVER!) pictured above.
my French isn’t that good (I took German in HS) – down with glass blocks? Either way, I have received comments telling me to look at Charles Gwathmey and the new Hermes tower done by Renzo Piano. I don’t think my opinion will be changed after looking back at the work of Charles Gwathmey but I am not overly concerned about the skill of Renzo Piano and what he can do with glass blocks. Should I have to publicly issue a free pass to all previous gold medal winners?
my French isn’t that good (I took German in HS) – down with glass blocks? Either way, I have received comments telling me to look at Charles Gwathmey and the new Hermes tower done by Renzo Piano. I don’t think my opinion will be changed after looking back at the work of Charles Gwathmey but I am not overly concerned about the skill of Renzo Piano and what he can do with glass blocks. Should I have to publicly issue a free pass to all previous gold medal winners?
Great post Bob. “Like glaucoma…” I’ll be laughing about that all day. I’m with you all the way and as they say in Paree, “a bas les blocs de verre!”
Great post Bob. “Like glaucoma…” I’ll be laughing about that all day. I’m with you all the way and as they say in Paree, “a bas les blocs de verre!”