Utopia of Glass

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Utopia of Glass

Mertins on Glass Train Station

Detlif Mertins was a champion of architectural designs. He had greater insight into architecture than others did, drawing meanings to different architectural pieces and connecting various ideologies to these pieces. The advent of glass buildings meant much to Detlif. The ordinary person sees glass buildings as a technological advancement, but Detlif saw much more into the glass as an architectural design (Mertins, 1996). The design drawing of the train station in Stuttgart by Mies van der Rohe (1924) gives a classic example of Detlif’s treatment of glass architecture (Mertins, 1996).

A train station built of glass? At least it was astonishing at the time of its launch. One would imagine the strong vibrations caused by trains on rails shaking the walls of the station, something that would break the glass into pieces (Mertins, 1996). However, the Stuttgart station was a success. With the glass is meant transparency and total inclusion. The inside can interact with the outside in equal measure. This idea rubbished the utopian idealism of withdrawal from the larger community (Mertins, 1996). A society that is in a perfect blend was the main driver of architectural designs at the time. Perhaps this idea has taken root up to today.

The delicate nature of glass implies the sophistication of architectural designs that use it as a construction material. As they say, the strength of a chain is its weakest link. It surprises how most of the glass buildings last longer than the concrete ones, most of which crumble after a few years (Mertins, 1996). A train station with its large traffic of humans and associated noise and vibrations only meant that the designers had to input a higher level of skill and sophistication to establish a lasting product. Therefore, glass has revitalized architecture, leading to fewer mistakes and strong structures.

Reference

Mertins, D. (1996). The Enticing and Threatening Face of Prehistory: Walter Benjamin and the Utopia of Glass. Assemblage, No. 29, pp. 6-23.