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An interview with Charles Blomberg of Rafael Vinoly Architects, New York

Blending art and functionality using laminated glass

Charles Blomberg

Rafael Vinoly Architects PC, founded in 1982, is an internationally renowned practice employing over 100 architects in offices located in New York, Tokyo and Buenos Aires. Charles Blomberg (AIA), Senior Architect with the firm, was project manager/designer for the Tokyo International Forum's Glass Hall (winner of the 1997 DuPont Benedictus Award) and has subsequently served on the Award jury.

LGN: Could you identify some common themes that run through the work of Rafael Vinoly Architects?

Charles Blomberg: We have one clear idea that guides our work: that the form of a building is generated by both the contextual situation and the programmatic components of the project. All of our work is 'modern' and dynamic in that it responds to its present-day context and is appropriate to the site – whether that be an International Forum in Tokyo or a courthouse in the Bronx.

LGN: Why does laminated glass feature so strongly in your firm's projects?

The Samsung Cultural Center in Seoul uses vertical and horizontal blades of laminated glass to distinguish the office block and retail sections of the building, respectively.

Charles Blomberg: In many of the projects we're working on, laminated glass is important to the resolution of a specific architectural problem. For example, we are very interested in the concept of a laminated glass 'box' enclosing a group of objects or buildings while still retaining the underlying impression that these buildings are independent.

Another reason is the interest we share with many other architects today in exploiting the transparency of the material for a two-way flow between the exterior and interior of a building. Daylighting is also key. Contemporary laminated glass products and coatings mean that you can get the maximum of daylight into the building while controlling heat and making significant energy savings.

LGN: Tell us about the use of laminated glass in some Vinoly projects.

Charles Blomberg: Rafael Vinoly Architects won an international design project to renovate the Samsung Cultural Center in Seoul, due to be completed this year. Laminated glass is used to express the two different functions going on within the building. The curtain wall of the office block section of the complex is constructed of a series of vertical, laminated glass blades that act as a shading device whether the sun is in the east or the west. But the curtain wall of the retain section of the complex is, by contrast, made up of a series of horizontal blades or shelves that become, in fact, the structural elements of the curtain wall.

The result is a startling example of how you can manipulate the way light is cast at various times of the day to achieve a lovely effect, by using glass.

The Van Andel Institute for Education and Medical Research in Michigan (completion of phase I: November 1999) is almost all lab space. Our aim was to get as much natural light into the building as possible. There was a specific site challenge since we are working with a five-story building, sloped down a hillside – so the façade protrudes out like a series of steps down a hill. In this project, you have a high performance laminated glass unit with high visible light transmission for an all-glass assembly in a very severe climate.

Van Andel Institute

Of the Van Andel Institute, Mr. Blomberg says: "Everyone loves the feeling of being in a winter garden and we tried to re-create that using laminated glass."

We are also creating a research facility at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It takes the form of a long, railroad car around a central spine/atrium of laminated glass that allows daylight into the interior of the building. The light coming through the atrium balances the light coming in from the windows – which could not be made larger due to strict historical preservation laws in the area.

LGN: How did you come up with the concept of the cantilever canopy for the Tokyo International Forum?

Vinoly's dream, along with structural work by Tim Macfarlane, produced the Tokyo International Forum's award-winning cantilevered laminated glass canopy.

Charles Blomberg: This came simply out of our desire not to block the view to people in the plaza of the building's entrance, given the fact that the site was constrained in terms of space. Suddenly, we realized that the problem would be solved if we made the entrance out of laminated glass! It took two things: Mr. Vinoly's artistic vision – and a client who, incredibly, supported us in our idea.

LGN: What do you believe are the most important challenges facing architects today?

Charles Blomberg: I personally believe that the biggest and most neglected issue is that architecture is an art form. Architectural glass is currently advancing faster than any other standard building material and is doing a lot to give architects increased design creativity and therefore get back to their artistic roots.