Prince St.

W. 44th St. & 10th Ave.

Yama Japanese Restaurant, E. 17th St. & Irving Place

GAH!  This horrible home is located about a 1/2 mile from where I spent a few of my formative years, on the site of a former wasp-infested school bus junk yard that I discovered in the woods at the tender age of 10 or 11.  This dump looks like a circa-1981 Howard Johnson, but was built around 2005.  No doubt by some former pro athlete or a "successful" small business owner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the listing:

https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1458763/7601-Sheed-Rd-White-Oak-OH-45247

 

This house doesn't even make sense.  Everything's centered around that mediocre indoor pool.  It's like if I want sip a Diet Sprite next to a B- indoor pool instead of a C- indoor pool I can just motor over to the Clippard YMCA. 

GAH!  This horrible home is located about a 1/2 mile from where I spent a few of my formative years, on the site of a former wasp-infested school bus junk yard that I discovered in the woods at the tender age of 10 or 11.  This dump looks like a circa-1981 Howard Johnson, but was built around 2005.  No doubt by some former pro athlete or a "successful" small business owner. 

 

Some Googling found that it was the latter - owner of a local engineering firm. At very least the plumbing and mechanical systems for that pool are probably top notch. I doubt the chlorine smell permeates the entire house.

 

^Whoever this guy is he has incredibly similar bad taste to the owner of another engineering company on the east side who I've taken a few photos for.  No glass block or indoor pool there, but lost of similarly useless open spaces and side-rooms and even a curved main staircase.  He's incredibly proud of his house and I was cringing inside as I was playing along. 

GAH!  This horrible home is located about a 1/2 mile from where I spent a few of my formative years, on the site of a former wasp-infested school bus junk yard that I discovered in the woods at the tender age of 10 or 11.  This dump looks like a circa-1981 Howard Johnson, but was built around 2005.  No doubt by some former pro athlete or a "successful" small business owner. 

 

Some Googling found that it was the latter - owner of a local engineering firm. At very least the plumbing and mechanical systems for that pool are probably top notch. I doubt the chlorine smell permeates the entire house.

 

That tacky house and the successful small businessman comment reminded me of this:

 

the timeless Toilet Paper Behind Glass Blocks--

 

I'm a major advocate of Scott Bath Tissue! Scott is extremely durable yet soft and each roll is twice the size of a standard roll. At $6.99 for an 18 roll pack, it's also by far the best value :)

 

It seems like glass blocks could be made to be a lot more aesthetic. I don't think it's the material itself, just the common wavy and square designs that somehow became standard.

It definitely has the potential to be significantly better than it is. I've seen a handful of smooth glass blocks that were used quite tastefully in some mid century modern buildings and they enhanced the space. But that wavy, square setup is just unappealing no matter where/how it's used.

Right. Also, I've seen it used in new post-modern style construction where it looks pretty good with other synthetic building materials. Of course those buildings and houses don't really have elements that provide any sort of rhythm, or rules for proportion in their architecture and that is fine, if that's the point.

 

It seems like glass was experimented with a lot in the Art Deco movement around the 1930s when they started using a lot of basic shapes and flat surfaces. I was thinking that maybe they viewed glass blocks as looking futuristic and cool. Basically just a primitive, small-scale version of what we admire in current neo-futuristic skyscrapers that I have no doubt we'll be talking smack about decades from now. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they called those glass blocks Avant-garde. It's hard to imagine that now because for a long time we've all been part of a new urbanism movement that promotes classical arch. styles that have all seen numerous revivals across many centuries so it just feels right but yeah, it's hard to believe that they didn't realize right away how much those glass blocks would clash with the pattern, shape and color of the bricks immediately surrounding them.

 

The glass blocks are designed to let in light but distort said light to create a sense of privacy and exclusivity so maybe it was also seen as an element to make the building look "ritzy" or maybe it was utilitarian as you clearly don't need blinds, shutters or curtains to regulate light or visibility. Or maybe it was done for both reasons?

 

Brick buildings with glass block windows or facades, especially in old business districts, seem so prevalent. They must have done it for a reason and whether we like those old buildings or not, IMO it's still history that I think we should preserve.

 

I would really like to know why it became so prevalent. I can't find anything online regarding the history of it, except for opinions on how tacky (or how cool) it is.

I would really like to know why it became so prevalent. I can't find anything online regarding the history of it, except for opinions on how tacky (or how cool) it is.

 

I always thought it was a security feature. Thus, as with security screen doors and bars over windows, I tend to associate glass block with "unsafe" places.

I would really like to know why it became so prevalent. I can't find anything online regarding the history of it, except for opinions on how tacky (or how cool) it is.

 

I always thought it was a security feature. Thus, as with security screen doors and bars over windows, I tend to associate glass block with "unsafe" places.

 

 

It's pretty easy to break in (or out) of any house without glass blocked basement windows.

 

 

E. 7th St.--this cheap-looking door almost makes the glass block look classy by comparison

^ always nice to see a glass block and bars-on-window combo haha.

 

Lafayette St.

 

Bleecker St.

Glass block in brand-new $1.4 million home:

https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/NKY/440883/505-Manhattan-Blvd-Dayton-KY-41074

Some day glass block will be so rare that only the richest 10 people in America will be able to afford it.

I noticed RTA used glass block for the windows in the platform indoor waiting area of the new Little Italy-Univ. Circle station ... Eeek! ... It's still a nicely-done station, though.

I don't know how I missed this before, but this must be the Rose Window of Glass Brick, located in the Burlington Coat Factory on 6th Ave and 22nd St lol

 

 

 

 

^ Wow, that's really something.

They were definitely just using glass block for the sake of using glass block.

 

I'm confident glass blocks can be used tastefully with the right context, the right geometry along with that of neighboring materials but I just haven't really seen any examples of it (I don't think.) I think it would be really cool to see glass block used in a way that works well for a building. There has to be some cool buildings that have incorporated glass block, right?

 

You know what makes glass blocks look so horrible, forced and out of joint? They're manufactured squares, all of which have identical textures instead of irregular shapes that we appreciate in natural materials such as stone. The square shape itself is probably unnatural and just appears to be too forced, to be aesthetically pleasing. I can't think of any notable architecture wherein squares could be identified in its features.

^ Thoughtful glass block analysis there David. Why is it that glass block's considered awful, but this looks cool.

 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TeULAwbUZ1s/maxresdefault.jpg

 

One thing I don't like about glass block is that people use it as a window replacement in high-crime areas. Therefore when you see it, you can reason "I'm in an area with a crime problem."

 

Same thing with security screen doors. Or bars on windows. Or a "Keep Out" sign some people put on their houses lol.

^ Thoughtful glass block analysis there David. Why is it that glass block's considered awful, but this looks cool.

 

Sometimes, I wonder if I'm John Ruskin re-incarnated. I spew all these random philosophical thoughts regarding architecture based on nothing but immediate observations and no formal education on it, lol.

 

The crime aspect also makes sense. I know I've predominantly seen them used in areas of high crime. Though, instead of thinking of glass blocks as an indicator of crime, it could also be viewed as comforting. Still, fear is a strong emotion.

 

I think glass overall is a beautiful material, if you think about it's usefulness and various applications. I'm pretty confident in thinking that the shape/texture of the glass blocks with disregard for the materials and shapes surrounding it, are more to blame for its ugliness than the use of the material itself.

 

This is a really interesting thread. Glass blocks have somehow managed to become a stain on modern architecture, starting with the art deco movement and we need to get to the bottom of it and fix this.

Why is it that glass block's considered awful, but this looks cool.

 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TeULAwbUZ1s/maxresdefault.jpg

 

 

That does look cool! But the glass isn't defiantly much more textured (yet uniform in their texture) against the very cohesive and smoothly flowing rhythm of the brick. The glass windows also aren't square shape, which I'm confident would just instantly ruin the building. I don't know what it is about squares but there's something to be said about how they ruin buildings.

 

There needs to be a sense of harmony between the materials and shapes of different elements in order for it to be aesthetically pleasing. The reason Gehry's architecture works is because even though you see a huge contrast between building materials, they all flow with each other. You won't ever get that in buildings like the ones mentioned in this thread that have materials fundamentally different in their rigid patterns.

This should rally the glass block preservationists!

 

http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2017/11/cuyahoga_county_plans_to_sell_euclid_avenue_property_in_clevelands_midtown_for_future_development.html#incart_m-rpt-1

I don't know why glass blocks are squares or why they aren't laid in an offset pattern like brick.  I work near a glass block place who I assume I could ask. 

Probably because you have to break brick at the ends. They could make half blocks for the ends.

Probably because you have to break brick at the ends. They could make half blocks for the ends.

 

Ah yes.  But they could just use 2x glass blocks and keep the familiar cubes for the end. 

 

Or maybe a staggered glass block wall looks even worse.  I can't say for sure because I've never seen one. 

 

Glass blocks have somehow managed to become a stain on modern architecture, starting with the art deco movement and we need to get to the bottom of it and fix this.

 

And there was probably no better example of glass block gone wild than the long gone art deco Lake Theater in Painesville, which featured two tiered cakes of glass block flanking the entrance. By day they seemed to serve no purpose even as decorative objects, but blazed with light at night. This picture was probably taken about the same time the theater opened, since the movie on the marquee dates from the same year, 1939. But to this day I honestly don't think I've seen another example of glass block used in quite the same way. Too bad it was demolished.

 

You will have noticed the glass blocks inserted into one of the risers of the Federal Reserve Bank's front steps?  They are removable from the inside and the holes become machine gun ports. When the Fed was designed, civil insurrection was a real worry.  This could become a new design feature for worried householders. 

This is a beautiful home by Clark and Menefee that uses glass block very well... 

 

More images here: https://virginiamodern.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/les-yeux-du-monde-gallery/

 

I must be one of the only people who really like glass block when it is done right.

On 12/13/2018 at 10:28 AM, Toddguy said:

I must be one of the only people who really like glass block when it is done right.

 

I think there's a large contingent of people who would feel the same way, but glass block is very rarely done right so they never see it!

"glass block done right"

 

...a phrase I never thought I'd hear. 

Found another example of "glass block done right." The Jambreiro House by Marcos Franchini + Flávia Lutkenhaus, located in Brazil. It seems that most examples are residential and smaller in scale. 

 

Either have windows or don't.

19 hours ago, 327 said:

Either have windows or don't.

 

It's not that black and white, though... What if you want an abundance of natural light, but still want privacy? What if you want something more cost-effective? What if you are unable to find a laborer skilled in window installs, but can lay brick/block? These are all good reasons to choose glass block. 

My neighbor recently installed glass block on his basement windows. All I can think about is there being a fire and he's trapped in the basement because his windows no longer open. And the last thing he ever sees before succumbing to smoke inhalation is glass block.  

1 hour ago, surfohio said:

My neighbor recently installed glass block on his basement windows. All I can think about is there being a fire and he's trapped in the basement because his windows no longer open. And the last thing he ever sees before succumbing to smoke inhalation is glass block.  

 

If there is a bedroom in the basement, by code there must be a legal means of egress from the bedroom. If not, I'm sure the smoke alarms would give adequate time to egress through the stairs.

 

I haven't seen the Xavier Physical Plant building (former Coca Cola Bottling plant) on this thread yet. It has awesome glass block and limestone, especially the curved glass block around the top of the rotunda. 

goofy whatever glass block in the bronx

 

 

 

 

 

very, very nice in london

 

Band photos now prominently feature glass block...ironically?

 

^ Ok, I'm not going crazy, that actually is the Stranger Things kid.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finn_Wolfhard