Portfolio / Warped Panes: Experiments in Slumped Glass

The goal of this project was to explore the various formal and optical effects that could be achieved through the manipulation of architectural glass. Teaming up with Laurence Sarrazin and Chris Barley, we devised a series of experiments that would lead to the techniques used for a full-scale installation of slumped glass panels at Columbia University.

Traditional glass blowing techniques as well as the manipulation of smaller-scale sheet glass were used to develop a full catalog of glass. This analysis helped us to identify the wide variety of visual effects made possible through the manipulation of the surface and shape of the glass. We then set out to create techniques to reproduce these effects at a larger-scale. Steel molds were produced through laser cutting, waterjet cutting and by hand. The glass panels were then slumped over these molds inside large kilns. The panels were then installed on the outside of Buell Hall on the campus of Columbia University.

This project was done in collaboration with Chris Barley and Laurence Sarrazin. We would like to thank Goldray Industries and Bendheim for the generous donations of the glass used throughout this project, and Maloya Laser for their assistance with the laser cut steel forms.