by Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!!-A Paul Scheerbart Reader Josiah McElheny
between transparent walls. For such rooms, however, wallpapers and
wall-fabrics are to be avoided because of fire risks, and wood-pan-
elling is no longer appropriate — it is as impermanent as paper and
fabrics, encourages woodworm and is potentially inflammable.
Another wall cladding material must now be found. Reinforced
concrete is not easy to handle artistically; it is as hard as granite, and
enamel and niello are not all that cheap, anyway. Imitation pearls
are coated with Ukley mother-of-pearl. This coating is perhaps to be
recommended for walls as well. It could easily be embellished with
semi-precious stones and glass brilliants.
But it is quite possible that a mother-of-pearl coat, applied to
an uneven surface, could do the job alone. Whether this artificial
mother-of-pearl retains its colour when daylight is kept away from it
would have to be tested.
Dome-like undulating bulges may be very effective if they occur
regularly and symmetrically.
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Wired glass
For the walls, a good glass material is still, of course, the most worth-
while. After glass mosaic, however, the most durable glass material
is the fairly familiar wired glass, which is particularly suitable for the
external wall. Nowadays, wired glass can be handled in such a way
that the wire mesh is scarcely visible. In the external wal the mesh
does not matter because to an outside viewer it is practically invisible.
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The vertical in architecture, and how to overcome it
The brick architecture of the past often overcame the problem of the
vertical by domes, but to escape from the vertical in walls seemed
impossible. In glass architecture it is quite different. The large Palm
House in the Botanical Gardens in Berlin no longer has vertical walls;
the upward curve begins at a height of three metres.
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The developments made possible by iron construction
Iron construction permits walls of any desired form. Vertical walls
are no longer inevitable. The developments made possible by iron
construction are thus quite unlimited. One can shift the overhead
dome effects to the sides, so that, sitting at a table, one has only
has to glance up sideways to appreciate them. Curved surfaces are
also effective for the lower parts of walls — it is specially easy to get
results in smaller rooms which are even less tied to verticals. The
importance of the ground-plan in architecture will be reduced by
such means; the building’s silhouette will now be more significant
than it used to be.
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Movable partitions in the home and the park
The Japanese constantly changes his living space by dividing it into
smaller areas by partition-screens. Different silk materials are laid
over these screens from time to time, so that the smaller ‘room’ can
have a frequently varying appearance. The same can be done in the
living-rooms of glass houses by mobile and sliding glass partitions.
If one introduces movable glass walls, which of course do not
have to be vertical, into a park, one can create wonderful perspec-
tives, and a very delicate architecture of higher wall-screens could
give the park a new architectural significance. This novelty would be
perpetually flexible.
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Overcoming the danger of fire
After what has been said, it is probably obvious that glass architec-
ture makes fire-protection superfluous. By avoiding all inflammable
materials fire insurance can be abolished. But the exclusion of fire
risks should always be borne in mind in architecture; in the applied
arts and interior decoration, only materials which do not burn should
be permitted.
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Vanquishing vermin
That in a glass house, if properly built, vermin must be unknown,
needs no further comment.
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Floodlights in the park, on towers and house-roofs
As coloured glass greatly softens the strength of light, we have far
too little electric light at the present time. But we should have a
thousand times as much, if, wherever there is running water, we
installed turbines, as is feasible. Given adequate light, we can have
far more floodlights than before, and night can become day. The night,
indeed, can be more glorious than the day, quite independently of
the splendour of the starlit sky, which when it is clouded, is invisible
to us anyway.
Even the private citizen will have his ‘park’ flood-lit, and there
will be flood-lights on all roof constructions and roof-gardens. And
a tower without flood-lights will then be entirely unfamiliar and look
unnatural. Aeronauts will show their indignation at unlit towers.
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Getting rid of the usual illumination effects
Glass architecture will be scornfully called ‘illuminations architecture’
by its opponents, who natural y should not be ignored. This contempt
is unjustifiable, for nobody will want to illuminate a glass house the
way a brick house is lit up today; when it is lighted inside the glass
house is in itself an illumination element. When there are many such
elements, the effect cannot be so harsh as the primitive elements
of present-day illumination. By manipulating mobile reflectors, the
floodlights can project a thousand beams of every conceivable colour
into the sky. Mirrors (used with discretion) and floodlights together
will oust the usual illumination. The new illumination will be essen-
tially for airship travel, to guide the aeronaut.
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47
The end of the window; the loggia and the balcony
With the introduction of electricity for cooling and heating, the chim-
ney must unquestionably be abolished. People claim that such an
introduction would be expensive, but forget that the tempo of techni-
cal development is continually quickening. Admittedly, this happens
in the workshop and the expert’s room; where talking a lot about
oneself is frowned upon. But the enthusiasm is no less.
When glass architecture comes in, there will not be much more
talk of windows either; the word ‘window’ will disappear from the dic-
tionaries. Whoever wants to look at nature can go on to his balcony
or into his loggia, which of course can be arranged for enjoying nature
as before. But then it will not be spoilt by hideous brick houses.
These are visions of the future, which we must none the less keep
in mind, if the new age is ever to come about.
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Stone mosaic as paving
Up to now, we have not adequately discussed how to pave the surface
underfoot. Stone flags are recommended for all paths and paved
areas in gardens, but inside the house only magnesite has been
mentioned for floors, in rooms of secondary importance. For better
rooms, stone mosaic alone is advisable. Of course, the colours of
the floor must be made to match the glass walls or to contrast with
them. Perhaps a fibre-glass carpet woul
d also be practicable. But
inflammable materials must be rejected, and carpets of materials
not fire-proofed, even if this is difficult.
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Models for glass architecture
The most important objective would be for a number of models of
glass architecture to be exhibited. Let us hope this happens at the
1914 Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, for which Bruno Taut has built
a glass house, in which the entire glass industry is to be represented.
It does not seem right to me to produce models of glass architecture
of pasteboard and selenite, but brass and glass models would not be
cheap. A new model-building industry ought to be created to make
models only for glass architecture, including church buildings, from
good materials. Perhaps it would be advisable to use a different imi-
tation glass for larger models. About twenty years ago there was a
substance cal ed Tektorium — it was transparent, coloured, leather-like
material on wire netting. For model purposes it would be admirable,
but for buildings it would not be durable enough, although it could
always be mended.
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Mountain illumination
So much sounds fantastic, which actually is not fantastic at all. If
one suggests applying mountain illumination to the Himalayas, this
is just a ridiculous fantasy outside the realms of practical discussion.
Illuminating the mountains near the Lake of Lugano is quite another
thing. There are so many hotels there which would like to be part of
the scenery, that they would be well disposed to glass architecture,
if the proposition were not beyond their means. Their means are not
inconsiderable, and the il uminations of the mountains by il uminating
the hotels, if these were built of glass, can no longer be described
as fantastic. The rack-railway, which ascends the Rigi, could also be
illuminated very easily and effectively by flood-lights.
When aeronautics have conquered the dark, the whole of
Switzerland will have her mountains colourfully lit up at night by
glass architecture.
We constantly forget how many things have changed in the last
century. In the 1830s the aged Goethe did not see the coming of the
railways. Less than a hundred years have passed since then, and the
whole earth is encompassed by steel rails. Mountain illumination,
which today still seems a fantasy to many, can develop just as quickly.
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Park illumination
But park il umination wil develop sooner than mountain illumination.
If only we have more electric light, much will evolve of its own accord.
Above all, we should consider towers of various forms in the parks
for guiding airships (as already discussed).
A glass tower should not only be equipped with flood-lights; many
of the glass surfaces could be made to move and so bring about
kaleidoscopic effects. Here also the possibilities are boundless.
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Ghostly illumination
When we speak of light, we are generally thinking of the glaring
light of gas and electricity. In the past fifty years light has progressed
quite surprisingly. It is all happening so quickly that one can hardly
keep up. But if we had light in greater quantity (and this is perfectly
feasible by using more turbines and dynamos), it would not have to
be harsh in its effect and could be softened by colour. It can be so
reduced by colour that it looks ghostly, which to many people would
perhaps seem sympathetic.
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The solid wall as background for sculpture
Where one either cannot or will not remove a solid non-transparent
wall, it may perhaps be suitable as background for plastic art. This
need not be statuary. Ornamental work stands out very effectively
against a wall, and plant motifs are also simple to apply. But painting
should not be used. In any case, it detracts from the architectural
unity of a building.
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Cars, motor boats and coloured glass
Now let us transfer glass architecture to the world of movement — to
cars and motor boats. In this way the landscape will become quite
different; it has already been permanently transformed by the steam
train — so transformed that for decades people could not grow used
to the change. The coloured automobile, with its glossy glazed sur-
faces, and the glass motor boat, however, will alter the landscape
so pleasantly that mankind, let us hope, should adjust itself to the
change more quickly.
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The steam and electric railway lit up in colour
When glass architecture has once successfully captured the car and
the motor boat, there will naturally be no course open to the other
vehicles, especially those which scorch along rails, except to accom-
modate themselves to it. We shall then enjoy a wonderful impression,
if we see an express illuminated in colour speeding by day or by night
through the countryside. The railway, greeted so sourly by sensitive
natures to start with, will in the end reach a level of artistic charm
beyond our present powers of description.
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Nature in another light
After the introduction of glass architecture, the whole of nature in al
cultural regions wil appear to us in quite a different light. The wealth
of coloured glass is bound to give nature another hue, as if a new light
were shed over the entire natural world. There wil be no need to look
at nature through a coloured piece of glass. With al this coloured glass
everywhere in buildings, and in speeding cars and air- and water-craft,
so much new light wil undoubtedly emanate from the glass colours
that we may wel be able to claim that nature appears in another light.
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Reinforced concrete in water
Reinforced concrete, as is wel known, has proved itself in water; it
is practical y indestructible. It is therefore suitable for a new Venice,
which must have foundations that are non-transparent, stable, rust-
free and indestructible. Upon this sound base the most colourful glass
architecture can rise and be reflected in the water. A new Venice in this
style wil eclipse the old one. Water, because of its intrinsic capacity to
reflect, belongs to glass architecture; the two are almost inseparable,
so that in future water wil be introduced wherever there is none at the
moment. If, after the example of the old Venice, a ‘colony’ were to be
laid out with canal-streets, the traditional Venice façade-architecture
would have to be renounced from the outset; it does not agree with
glass buildings which, when they are to be several storeys high, have
in any case to be built in pyramid shape with terraces; otherwise too
few of the glass wal s come in contact with the daylight.
Should the individual sites be very close to one another, care must
be taken over suitable boundaries. These can be walls of reinforced
concrete, perhaps sheltering a covered way, o
pen on one side. But
they could be made in plenty of other ways.
Anyone can develop the theme further, even a non-architect.
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Floating architecture
If reinforced concrete, as has often been asserted in many quarters —
even by the State Material-testing Commission* — cannot be attacked
by water, then it is capable of carrying the largest building, like a
ship. We can talk in all seriousness of floating architecture. For this,
of course, everything which was said in the previous chapter holds
good. The buildings can obviously be juxtaposed or moved apart in
ever changing patterns, so that every floating town could look differ-
ent each day. The floating town could swim around in regions of large
lakes — perhaps in the sea too. It sounds most fantastic and utopian,
but it is far from being so, if reinforced concrete, shaped to the form
of an indestructible vessel, carries the architecture. Indestructible
boats have already been built out of reinforced concrete in German
New Guinea. We must learn to accept that new building materials,
when they really are of unrivalled strength and free from rust, can
guide the architecture of the whole world into new paths. Reinforced
concrete is one such material.
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River and lake shipping in coloured lighting
As soon as there is floating glass architecture, ships — both great and
small — will be fitted out in glass. The rivers, lakes and seas will then
become very gay. It does not take much perspicacity to predict this
development in lake and river shipping, once a floating building is
erected and is imitated.
* The German here is staatliche Materialprüfungskommission [Ed.].
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Aircraft with coloured lights
It is generally known that the aeronauts would like to take over the
night. That they have not so far done so is easily explained; on the
earth the night is not yet light enough. But when, thanks to glass
architecture, it has become light down below, it will also be light up
in the air; the aircraft will be equipped to project coloured lights,
which will also form the vocabulary of a signal-language, understood
everywhere by the light-projecting stations of the earth-towers and
giving a practical value to the colour display both above and below.
Here the elements of progress fit smoothly together and are slowly