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I'll just admit it, I really like the aesthetics of glass skyscrapers. Sometimes I do a walk around and just stare at a lot of them.
When I watch Hollywood movies and any movie at all showing the big cities with awesome full glass skyscraper buildings, I almost always get a little chills, trust me I'm not exaggerating here.
But unfortunately, the many full glass skyscrapers are among the things that have serious negative environmental impacts.
If we were prioritizing safety of our environment over aesthetics then I believe Glass skyscrapers should have been a thing of the past. The evidence against them is just too many now.
They consume way too much energy, they fail in extreme climates and heavily contribute to the monotony of city skylines. By monotony I mean the same freaking look for multiple buildings.
All these bad sides and yet, they still rise, one after another, almost as if we’ve learned nothing about them.
This isn’t just about our architectural limitations or what is considered by the engineers as ideal, but it’s about a mindset that refuses to change even when the facts are right there screaming in our faces.
Developers don’t care, FACTS. Well at least they don't "really care". They just want what’s fast, cheap and visually impressive. It's really about project for cash at this point, not much about environmental impact.
And you see, glass as a material checks all those boxes. It’s easy to install, gives the illusion of transparency and openness, and lets corporations slap their names on those towers that reflect nothing but their own indifference to sustainability.
I'll try not to rant here.
Sadly, efficiency and long term impact are secondary concerns, that is if they’re considered at all.
The architects know better or at least they should know better. Some have been calling for a shift, warning that the obsession with glass is not sustainable at all. But you see, regardless of what you say, the guys with the money will determine how things go.
The architects and engineers are doing their jobs to get paid so the temptation to bow to the demands of investors is really high.
Even firms that publicly denounce glass towers keep designing them. It’s kind of like hypocrisy wrapped in steel and sealed with high tech coatings meant to offset the very problems glass creates.
Technological advancements are meant to fix these problems. There is this notion that adding more layers of glass could help but adding more layers is like putting a bandage on a deep wound, it doesn’t solve the underlying issue.
The real solution is obvious and like I said, the architects know it. Just use less glass buddies.
The fact that this isn’t happening tells me one thing. People like the illusion more than the reality. And illusions, no matter how cool don’t last forever.
Sad to say this but perhaps as these glass buildings cause more harm maybe the investors and architects will finally see the need to innovative. I hope it happens sooner rather than later when the destruction is too much.