Glass

** Glass is an amorphous solid material that is brittle and optically transparent. Glass has always been present along the centuries, as an architectural element and also as an ornament. Glass on structures was first used for windows in Roman imperial times, afterwards was introduced the stained-glass windows (colored glass o make decorative windows and other objects). Clear and colorless glass was very difficult to achieve until the Venetian manufacture of cristallo. Later, the French introduced plate glass and it wasn’t until the late 19th century that the mechanization of glass forming occurred. The currently method in use is the float-glass method, which eliminated the need for griding and polishing. Egyptians used glass in some objects such as beads and Mesopotamian used it for vessels. After, glass was use in Greece in the form of small molded architectural details. Along the centuries and styles of architecture, the techniques to treat glass have been changing, giving it different colors and shapes. Nowadays, I think, glass is an essential element in construction. It is used for windows and doors. Glass is also used for decorative reasons; we can see it in a lot of objects such as portraits, flower vases, glasses, and so on. In Caracas, we can see a lot of constructions that involve glass, mostly on modern constructions. For example The Millennium Mall, Centro Comercial Sambil, Parque Cristal, Ciudad Banesco, and so many other structures. In my opinion, glass is a structural element that gives beauty and elegance to a building, and make a city look modern. **