Architecture Congress: Glass 5.0 – Design, Function, Emotion
The second day of glasstec (Wed. 22 October) will see architects, structural engineers, air-conditioning engineers and façade planners meet for the Architecture Congress held under this year’s motto “Glass 5.0 – Design, Function, Emotion” at Congress Centrum Ost (CCD Ost) of the Exhibition Centre. Partnering in the organization of the event are the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Architects, the Technical University of Delft as well as the University Ostwestfalen-Lippe. Speakers include renowned architects such as Graham Dodd/Arup Fellow, Winy Maas/MVRDV and Paolo Cruz/University of Minho. They will not only cover glass as a high-tech material but also all aesthetic facets of glass design in the future. Their topics read “Exploring Transparency”, “Colour and Glass” or “Engineering with Glass”. The Architecture Congress is officially recognised as a continuous education course and corresponds to 4 lessons in the subjects architecture and interior design by AKNW definition, and 4 time units by IKBau NRW definition.
 
Conference on Engineered Transparency
The technical-scientific conference “engineered transparency” held on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 of October at Congress Centrum Süd of the Exhibition Centre specifically addresses research and development as well as engineering and implementation as target groups and will focalise the latest trends and developments in structural glass building. It is organised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens Schneider of the Technical University of Darmstadt and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernhard Weller of the Technical University of Dresden and comes under the heading of “GLASS | FACADE | ENERGY”. A key topic for the first day of the conference will be hybrid structures with a focus on combining glass and timber. The second day of the congress will focus on the design and dimensioning of new glass structures. The presented extraordinary glass and façade projects serve as best-practice examples for energy efficiency, sustainability and resource savings. Other topics covered by the conference include adhesive glass joints and solar technologies.
 
For 2014 organisers once again succeeded in enlisting high-calibre keynote speakers such as John Kooymans, Head of the Structural Glass and Façade Engineering group of RJC in Toronto, Dr.-Ing. Winfried Heusler, Senior Vice President of Engineering at SCHÜCO (Bielefeld, GER), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers, founder and co-owner of Knippers Helbig Beratende Ingenieure Stuttgart (GER) as well as Christoph Timm of Skidmore, Owings and Merril. Conference participants will receive a conference file with some 70 expert essays by internationally renowned researchers, engineers and architects as well as developers and industry representatives.
 
Special Show glass technology live
A guided tour of the Special Show glass technology live, which also deals in detail with individual exhibits, forms part of the agenda for both the Architecture Congress and the engineered transparency Conference. Occupying approx. 2,500 square metres, the Special gtl Show addresses the themed areas of “Intelligent Building Shells”, “Façade + Energy” (Solar), “Innovations in Glass” as well as “Glass Design” under the heading of “Intelligent Glass”. Prof. Stefan Behling and his team from the University of Stuttgart have once again compiled spectacular exhibits – for instance, an almost nine-metre, all-glass bridge resting on pre-stressed glass supports strutted with filigree stainless steel cables or a glass support spanning twelve metres and based on tensile stress. Also on display will be closed-cavity façade mock-ups, smart light directing concepts, thin-glass as well as organic PVs for building integration. One eye-catcher from the area of glass design is a glass sheet measuring 3.20 x 14.00 metres finished with a ceramic digital printing process.
 
gtl is accompanied by a high-calibre technical symposium with free admission for glasstec visitors. Featured within the exhibition area of the Special Show it offers a multitude of lectures on highly topical subjects. Of particular interest for architects, building engineers and related professions is the Thursday of the trade fair organised by the University of Stuttgart under the heading “Transparency – State of the Art Technologies”. On October 23 internationally renowned architects and experts will present state-of-the-art projects and concepts. Speakers will include Hanns Jörg Schrade, architect at Studio+ from Munich, who will talk about the development of the „seele iconic skin“ all-glass façade elements. A mock-up of this innovative façade with its particularly homogeneous appearance is among the exhibits at glass technology live.
 
Participation in the Architecture Congress and the engineered transparency conference costs EUR 49 and EUR 350, respectively. There are discounts for students. The participation fee also includes admission to the trade fair for two days. For tickets as well as the complete line-up of exhibitors and side events for architecture/construction go to www.glasstec.de/architecture-construction.
 
For more information visit our website www.glasstec-online.com