‘Zappi’Glass Structures and Constructions in ‘Blob’Architecture

Mick Eekhout, Chair of Product Development, Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft
Octatube International bv, Delft NL & Stephan Niderehe, Octatube Engineering bv, Delft

After the introduction of the quest for unbreakable structural glass in 1992 in the Chair of Product Development research and development on the field of unbreakable glass constructions and structures were undertaken in Delft. Parallel to this research & development track a special design & build track of experimental glass structures was undertaken at Octatube of Delft by the author from 1988 onwards. Practical but experimental avant-garde projects were designed, developed and build in a typical ‘design & build’ approach which not seldom led to requests for more fundamental approaches. The article describes a number of the more recent glass projects with incremental steps in product development intertwining ‘Zappi’ structures and constructions for applications in ‘Free Form’ or ‘Blob’ architecture, giving an overview of Dutch Glass Designs.

Full Text Article [2,896 KB]