Glass and color unite in playful twist on apartment life
Inhabitants of this unique housing facility will quickly find that the life and vibrancy of the space can be attributed to the creative use of laminated glass in the design. Rather than settling for a bland and conventional apartment structure, architect Bernard Bühler set out to create a dynamic space on a tight budget. The Vanceva color system for laminated glass provided the perfect solution.
For this project, glass and color were utilized in many different ways that complemented each other and also emphasized their own unique characteristics. Glass adds an element of visual continuity between the interior and exterior of the structure. However, the bright spectrum of colors offers a measure of privacy to the building inhabitants. Nowhere does this dialogue between glass and color come into play more than the structure-less balconies.
Bühler wanted the balconies of the building to appear as weightless colored frames floating on the façade, saying his aim was to produce a “superposition of colors” and a “mix of transparencies.” Through the use of the Vanceva interlayer system, he was able to achieve the look of weightlessness and the richness of color. In cooperation with the manufacturers, he designed a special structural system which maintains the integrity of the glass panel and is barely visible from the outside. In this project, glass was used for its transparency, reflection and, most of all, for the unexpected beauty that results when shadow and light crosses the material. When combined with a wide variety of playful colors, the glass elements make this apartment building a dynamic and fun place to live.
