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Appelbaum

Ralph Appelbaum uses laminated glass to craft museums with a mission

Ralph Appelbaum and his team of 80 designers at Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) of New York have created over 100 public spaces in more than 50 cities during the past 20 years.

Designing a space that is functional, interesting and beautiful is a difficult challenge in itself. Museum exhibits have the additional burden of explaining complex ideas in a way that allows people to absorb them quickly and easily.

In the Corning Museum of Glass, the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial and the World Golf Hall of Fame, Ralph Appelbaum has used laminated glass with DuPont^™ Butacite^® PVB in an amazing range of highly innovative ways to achieve these goals.

THE FREEDOM FORUM JOURNALISTS MEMORIAL

Journalists' Memorial: a feeling of vibrancy and life

The Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial in Arlington, Virginia is an 8 metre-high spectral torch of laminated glass and steel, that pays tribute to more than 1,300 journalists from around the globe who lost their lives while reporting the news. The only memorial of its kind in the world, it gives families and former associates a place to honor loved ones who died in the search for truth.

Appelbaum told LGN: "The memorial's light-reflecting laminated glass affirms life: the idea was to celebrate a passion for freedom, as well as to memorialize the dead. Each glass panel is composed of two laminated glass sheets. For added durability and weather resistance, we reversed the usual configuration and embedded the silk-screened journalists' names between the two sheets before the lamination process. A dichroic coating creates every-changing patterns of light and reflection, ranging in color from azure blue to amber orange, depending on the location and intensity of the sun."

RAA designer James Cathcart told LGN: "The design freedom laminated glass gives, meant that we could create the structure of a spiraling scroll. The main design challenge was that this outdoor exhibit is exposed to incredibly strong wind loads, standing as it does on an exposed bridge. Thus the laminated glass with Butacite^® PVB is not only invaluable for protecting the diachroic film and the silk-screened journalists' names from the elements; it is also useful for increasing the structural integrity of the monument."

With the structure of a spiraling scroll, the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial is an 8-metre high, multi-colour spectral torch of laminated glass with Butacite® and steel

Laminator Wesley Depp of Depp Glass Inc. of New York said: "At the dedication ceremony, a woman came up to me and said: 'I must thank you. My son is here.' It turns out that he was stoned to death while reporting the news from an African country. She told me that the brightness, colorfulness and brillance of the memorial gave her the feeling that her son was, in a sense, still living. I have never felt more rewarded for a project."

"Memorials are generally carved of stone because they need to last forever. Laminated glass is just as long lasting, hard wearing and even as easy to clean – but its use meant that we could give a feeling of vibrancy and life that is very different from the 'feeling' of stone."

SIGNATURE CRYSTAL, WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM

Another example of Appelbaum's use of laminated glass incorporating Butacite^® PVB to 'tell a story' is The World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida. In a radical departure from traditional halls of fame which may feature bronze likenesses, each of the 76 inductees in the Golf Hall of Fame is honored with a unique 'signature crystal' sculpture incorporating laminated glass and created by RAA designer Doug Balder.

The signature crystal sculptures in the World Golf Hall of Fame contains a highly functional laminated glass section incorporating Butacite® ; RAA designer Doug Balder is pleased that "the low-iron laminated glass we used is so good that it in no way cheapens the effect of the crystal".

Each sculpture consists of a stainless steel ring containing the engraved name of the golfer, a circular plate with 50 words of text engraved in a starfire laminated glass assembly, and a lead crystal cone containing a line-art engraving – a full-bodied likeness – of the golfer, on the back. Across the front, the golfer's signature is engraved and sandblasted through a resistant layer of laminated glass.

Doug Balder told LGN: "When the sun pours through the windows at various times of the day, the crystals throw rainbows all over the room. The laminated glass section is highly functional, yet the quality of the low-iron laminated glass we used is so good that it in no way 'cheapens' the effect of the crystal.

"We could not have cast the glass ring in crystal since it is too soft and delicate. Laminated glass adds strength to the overall structure, holds it together and protects the whole thing from shattering if a kid jumps up and hangs on it. Laminated glass is also great for etching – if you try to etch tempered glass beyond a certain point it will explode." The laminator for the World Golf Hall of Fame was again Depp Glass Inc., working with DuPont^™ Butacite^® PVB.

RAA's Balder concluded: "By using laminated glass, we are effectively stretching the envelope of what glass can achieve in the context of public monuments. It's timeless and keeps looking fresh. It empowers us as interior design architects to dispatch glass cabinets to the architectural history books. It allows the public to get closer to the objects on display and actually touch them with no safety risk. And the laminated glass itself can tell great 'etched' stories."

APPELBAUM AND PASCAROSA ON THE FUTURE OF LAMINATED GLASS

Ralph Appelbaum and RAA Partner Jack Pascarosa told LGN that future developments for laminated glass that particularly interest them include:

• 'active glass' – that, through the use of interlayers, can change its state; for example moving from transparent to translucent;
• 'discriminating glass' – that 'decides' what happens to light that passes through it.
• 'informative glass' – where digitally-created graphics, output/printed onto a film, can be laminated between two glass sheets and used for exhibit panels.
• Increasingly complex shapes, for example, computer-generated shapes using irregular curves.
• Photovoltaic laminated glass.

Appelbaum and Pascarosa summed up: "There's certainly a lot going on at the forefront of laminated glass technology. Developments by interlayer suppliers like DuPont are making laminated glass more energy efficient, secure, strong and safe – and more dramatic and exciting – than it has ever been!"