STRUCTURAL GLASS FACADES - USC School of Architecture

the great cathedrals of the period were able to construct stone frames, highly expressive
structures, with large openings to the outside to admit light. The local climate conditions
never would have allowed for this if the openings had exposed the interior spaces to the raw
elements. A robust glass technology was available to fill this need in most dramatic fashion.
Glass was available in many colors, but only in small pieces. The window-makers developed
a structural system comprised of leaded bars that were used to tie the mosaic of glass
pieces into a single membrane of glass and lead capable of spanning the frequently quite
large openings. These large stained-glass windows represent an early precursor to structural
glass facades. In a similar manner, the morphology of the structural masonry frames with
glass membrane infill built around Paris from the 12 th through the 14 th centuries, herald the
new architecture to emerge in Chicago in the late 19 th century in the work of Louis Sullivan
and others, where large glass sheets are used as infill to the new multi-story steel framing
systems.
Figure 1.3 Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194-1260.
(Beck 2008)
Figure 1.4 Carson Pirie Scott Building, Chicago
1898, Louis Sullivan architect. (Billmoy 2003)
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