Glass Marcos Colina Cristopher Vargas Laura Medina Marcos Colina Cristopher Vargas Laura Medina

What is Glass? Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material. Glasses are typically brittle, and often optically transparent. Glass is commonly used for windows, bottles, modern hard drives and houses.

History of glass - Origins of glass - The beginning of glassware - The Roman Empire - Sheet Glass - Venice - Late Middle Age - Other advances - From craft to industry - More and more glass - Prehistory BC - AD th century - 12 th century - 15 th century - 17 th century - 19 th century - 20 th century - Prehistory BC - AD th century - 12 th century - 15 th century - 17 th century - 19 th century - 20 th century

Origins of glass Natural glass has existed far long before humans, formed when certain types of rocks melt as a result of high temperature phenomena such as volcanic eruptions or lighting strikes. - Prehistory

The beginnings of Glassware The earliest glassware made by man, mainly transparent glass beads and glazing on pots and vases, are thought to date around 3500 BC, in Egypt and Mesopotamia. However, the oldest fragments of glass vases date back to the 16 th century BC BC

The Roman Empire It was the Romans who began to use glass for architectural purposes, with the discovery of clear glass in Alexandria around 100 AD. Cast glass windows began to appear in the most important buildings in Rome and luxurious villas of Pompeii. During the Roman Empire craftsmen of glass could establish and develop good creations, but between 4 th and 7 th century AD glassmaking slowed, because of the decline of the Empire. - AD 100

Sheet Glass In 11 th century occurred an important development: the creation of a technique for producing bigger glass sheets by German glass craftsmen, measuring as much as 3 meters long, with a width up to 45 cm. The panes thus created would then be joined with lead strips and pieced together to create windows. Glazing remained, however, a luxury up to the late Middle Ages, with royal palaces and churches the most likely buildings to have glass windows th century

Venice In the Middle Ages, the Italian city of Venice assumed its role as the glassmaking centre of the western world. To protect glassmaking secrets and the like, most of venecian glass craftsmen were moved to Murano, one of the city’s islands, where started to use quartz sand and potash to produce particularly pure glass, famous until advanced 16 th century th century

Late Middle Age In late Middle Age Gothic Architecture placed glassmaking in the level of tall Art by giving the possibility of making (for the moment) big and tall windows that let the light through. These windows were made with panes of stained glass, joined with lead strips. Beautiful and colored, these windows resembled historical and religious scenes in cathedrals and palaces th century

Other advances Better kinds of glasses surged between 17 th and 18 th century. The English glassmaker George Ravenscroft used higher proportions of lead oxides instead of potash, and created a brilliant lead glass with a high refractive index which was easier to cut and engrave. Meanwhile, in France were developed new methods for plate glass, which was used especially for mirrors th century

From craft to industry It was not until the latter stages of Industrial Revolution that mechanical technology for mass production and in-depth scientific research of glass and its qualities began to appear in the industry. In Architecture, the glass became at this moment one of the favorite materials. Huge crystal buildings were the moment’s sensation th century

More and more glass Since 19 th century the use of glass in Architecture has been taken to the limits, and the research in glass production has seen basically one direction: massive, easier and cheaper production, besides of specific technological glasses types th century

Glass properties These are the main characteristics of glass: Fragile and easily breakable into sharp pieces (it isn’t elastic at all) Disordered and amorphous structure Solid and hard material

Glass properties These are the main characteristics of glass: Glass is 100% recyclable and one of the safest packaging materials due to its composition and properties Inert and biologically inactive material. Transparent or translucent to visible light

Glass properties These are the main characteristics of glass: Glass is 100% recyclable and one of the safest packaging materials due to its composition and properties Inert and biologically inactive material. Transparent or translucent to visible light

Glass properties These are the main characteristics of glass: Glass is 100% recyclable and one of the safest packaging materials due to its composition and properties Inert and biologically inactive material. Transparent or translucent to visible light