Arrant Industries / Brisco Loran

Materials: Handmade and machine made glass, Toughened Glass, Bonding agent.
Site: Sash window separating commercial unit and street level.
Location: Brisco Loran offices, Battersea, London, UK
Dimensions: Sash windows 1970 x 970 mm each. Facade total 4860 x 970 mm
Date: 2023

My client approached me to design a movable ‘stained-glass’ window that provides privacy and a focal point to their new office space. The shop front was to become a workspace for an architects practice, who wished to have the option of visibility and privacy from the street.

I wanted to explore how both factory made and artisanal materials can be used to produce something beautiful whilst providing a necessary function to a space, in this case the refraction of light and privacy from the street. The use of silicon steps away from the traditional use of Lead which allows for more light to enter as well as creating a more contemporary aesthetic. The glass design sits in an independent sash frame from the exterior glazing, meaning that it can be raised or lowered depending on the degree of privacy needed whilst the usual functions of opening and closing external glazing is maintained.

Whilst researching for this work I became interested in rice paper (Shoji) screens, often seen in traditional Chinese and Japanese buildings. The wooden lattice work operates in a similar way as lead in traditional stained glass windows whilst the rice-paper mutes and disperses light. In most western buildings glass is used as an almost imperceptible barrier between the inside and outside as an attempt to gain as much light and clarity as possible. However what is neglected by this is attention to the quality as well as quantity of light coming into a space. For this project, I have used four different types of glass, each refracting light in a different way which creates a dynamic yet subtle rhythm to the space.

My design takes the form of a diagonally slanted grid which is populated by curves. I felt it important for these windows to have a clear visual rhythm as they connect the interior space to street level. Im especially interested in how they function from the street, as pedestrians and vehicles pass by, their image is systematically broken up by the types of textured glass disappearing and re-appearing with movement across the glass surface. Perhaps like Steve Reich’s music in visual form, a looping and resurfacing of a repetitive phrase. The grid appears in a lot of my work and I’m very interested in how repetitions allow us to re-address and pin point our perceptions as we shift our attentions back and forth from one detail to the next.

- https://arrantindustries.com/

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