As part of this year’s Glasstec, Glass Technology Live displayed “Glass Flower of NorthGlass.” This is the second time that a NorthGlass exhibit has appeared on Technology Live, and NorthGlass is still the only Chinese enterprise ever to exhibit in this area.
Technology Live is organized by four technical universities: Darmstadt University of Technology, Delft University of Technology, Dortmund University of Technology and Dresden University of Technology. Many innovative and novel products from science and glass research are shown to the public at Technology Live for the first time. NorthGlass’ exhibit this year is composed of 3D multi-curved mirror glass, and is a collaboration between Tianjin NorthGlass, the holding subsidiary of NorthGlass Group, and Apple consultant EOC.
According to the official introduction: the Glass plays a vital role in architecture, and every perfect piece of art in glass architecture is a love story between a designer and a glass manufacturer. From this point of view, the “Glass Flower of NorthGlass” is a true declaration of love for architecture, as 3D glass provides architects with great design freedom when planning complex transparent building structures.
NorthGlass’ exhibit is like a blooming flower, and the petals are composed of double-curved, large-sized and irregularly cut laminated glass. The double curvature of each “petal” is unique, with different double curvatures. The length and radius of the edge and the angle of adjacent edges echo each other. Freestanding glass is arranged in a cross shape, forming a semi-open space. Each piece of glass extends upwards. The angle of inclination varies with the glass, and the change in angle increases the curvature of each piece of glass, thus enhancing its dynamic effect.
In order to perfectly reflect the multi-curve processing capability of NorthGlass and present a stunning effect, the designing scheme of the Glass Flower of NorthGlass has been repeatedly discussed and revised. Since the shape of the glass changes irregularly, and in order to avoid local sudden changes and wrinkles caused by edge stretching during the glass forming process, Tianjin NorthGlass performed a ±0.5mm measurement on each forming data of the multi-curved furnace. In order to be more practical in production, there are more than 80 points of multi-curve data in one square metre, and if a piece of 4 metres by 3 metres of glass is to be perfectly produced, the number of data points to be calibrated is nearly 1,000.
This glass has both mirror film and colour glaze. The mirror film is a highly reflective film, which is not easy to absorb heat during the heating process, while the black colour glaze is very easy to absorb heat. These two characteristics are positive and negative, which is a challenge to the relative fit of the two pieces of glass. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the experimental analysis of the temperature and time-sensitive characteristics of the mirror film glass and the coloured glaze glass to find their appropriate parameters, and finally show the ideal effect.
Perfect art is determined by many factors. The design should be novel and full of connotation, and the work should make people think. A perfect work should have details, in which viewers can see the story behind the work. This is how NorthGlass treats the product as a work of art, presents their product concepts with the spirit of craftsmen, and innovates and creates for the designers’ perfect creativity.