Glass Acts

Glass is a paradoxical material: neither solid nor liquid, it is at once delicate and hardworking. In architecture, engineering advances have allowed us to graduate from Modernism’s large and inefficient panes—favored for their ability to erase the line between interiors and the outside world—to a more technical product that actually improves a building’s performance while letting in natural light. But when it comes to objects, the ubiquity of no-nonsense plastic has only enhanced our appreciation for the fragile beauty of handmade items. Maybe that’s why the “rigid liquid” is being used more abundantly, and more daringly, than ever before.