Glass

Glass is a hard material normally fragile and transparent common in our daily life. It is composed mainly of sand and an alkali. These materials at high temperature fuse together; then they are cooled rapidly forming a rigid structure. Depending on the final use and application the composition of the glass and cooling rate will vary to achieve the adequate properties for the specific application.

From time immemorial, glass has been used in buildings as a solution to the problem of lighting and decoration in the structures. However, its use in tropical countries, as Caracas, is quite inefficient. Since the boom of the glass facades in Europe in the twentieth century, most architects around the world chose it as a facade treatment system for its visual appeal, but its use in tropical countries is incorrect. In European countries where the cold weather dominates the streets, the facades of glass help out to provide heat and sunlight to buildings, allowing the green house effect keep them warm. But, When it´s used as decoration in a country like ours, we get a giant furnace, which needs up to 5 times more energy to handle the energy demand of air conditioners. That is why we should choose concrete and brick facades that insulate us from the scorching heat in our country. These well-wrought facades on glass give elegance to the structure, and coupled with a good cross ventilation obtain useful and attractive buildings at once but its not the most accurate to use it in countries like Venezuela.