- #Anne friedberg the virtual window in viewing positions series#
- #Anne friedberg the virtual window in viewing positions windows#
One could still identify its essence on the operable parts of transparent enclosures, which offer not only views of the outside but practical possibilities of physical contact with the exterior.
#Anne friedberg the virtual window in viewing positions windows#
Indeed, while historically, one tends to identify windows as the transparent parts of a given façade, the advent of large glass walls challenged the identification of the window and its profile. Glass as a screen wrapping (parts of) the façade replaced the anthropomorphic metaphor of windows as the “eyes” of the building, challenging the traditional concept of window.
With all these changes, windows lost their autonomy as isolated elements and their role as visual framing agents. Tempered glass also played an essential role in this evolution, allowing glazing to perform a structural function, which was until then prohibited. Industrialization, on the other hand, sacrificed the genealogy of window and its local specificities, institutionalizing global practices and standard requirements of thermal efficiency, fire resistance, airtightness and waterproofness. The window as a hole progressively faded away as last century’s improvements allowed the size of glass panes to grow, undifferentiating windows and glass doors, and culminating in the glass curtain wall, which simultaneously expanded the window encompassing the entire façade and dissolved it into fully glazed skins.įurthermore, during the 20th century, closed façades become prominent, especially in corporate buildings, with windows that provide uninterrupted views to the exterior but prevent any physical contact with it, as mechanized ventilation systems absorbed the function of air supply. Over time, designers envisioned new architectural possibilities for glass doors and windows, which evolved in parallel and often intertwined with various glass and frame technologies and frame. Some provide shading - shutters, louvers, jealousies, blinds, screens and curtains -, others security - bars, grills, storm sashes, handles and bolts -, while others - seats, sills, bow-windows, meshes - express different architectural approaches, varying according to climate conditions, cultural roots and social issues.
#Anne friedberg the virtual window in viewing positions series#
Therefore they work as filters, being historically accompanied by a series of devices that regulate light, ventilation, privacy, and atmospherical conditions. Emerging in western architecture as apertures punctured in enclosing walls, to introduce light into buildings, admit air and provide framed views to the outside, they are spatial mediators of the relation between interior and exterior like glass doors, which additionally allow movement. It is not even clear whether windows, as single recognizable operable devices, will still exist. Imagining the future of the window is not an easy task. More glass, fewer windows: what is a window? We argue that a possible outcome of the combination of different technologies - magnetic and dynamic levitation, transparent photovoltaic glass, vacuum insulated glass, switchable glass, piezoelectric touch-sensitive surfaces or ultra-thin glass - might ultimately change the architectural approach to windows.ġ. In this paper, we speculate on an idea of the window of the future according to state of the art in terms of glass and operable frames. Nowadays, smart windows intersect previous technologies with electrically activated materials with dynamic properties augmenting their capacity. Last century’s breakthroughs in terms of glass and frame allowed the glass to progressively absorb functions traditionally present in other devices ultimately dissolving the window into transparent walls.