How to design glass constructions – an educational concept and its outcome

Kirsten Pieplow

Modern architecture nowadays is not thinkable without glass. But to design intelligent building envelopes and constructions made of glass it needs more to know than that glass is a brittle material.

Therefore, it is important to bring young civil and structural engineers already early in education process closer to theoretical foundations of glass constructions, aspects for good design and what has to be considered in design process as well as the innovative potential and possibilities for using glass and glass in combination with other materials, because: Glass can be used for much more than only for a simple window pane!

The educational concept for “Glass in structural engineering 1 & 2” consisting of a theoretical and an experimental course and their results at the Department of Steel Constructions at the Technische Universität Berlin will be presented. It will be given an overview about the main topics of the theoretical part of the course essential for the education in the field of glass like for instance material characteristics, design rules, building regulations, experimental test methods and current glass research as well. Within the experimental course by means of a special problem students are brought close to design glass constructions to teach them how to design glass constructions in general, develop new hybrid glass constructions or use high-strength glass like chemically strengthened glass.

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