Remember the glass blocks of '80s bathrooms? They're back.

[Celerity]

Architects and designers are deploying the once-dated building material in fresh, modern ways.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2024/06/24/glass-blocks-back-in-style/

https://archive.ph/zJhCN



Along with 1980s neon manicures and vintage ’90s blazers, glass blocks are making a comeback thanks in part to a new fan base on social media. One Instagram reel showcasing several types of the retro building material has racked up more than 5 million views since March. It features cross-hatched blocks, frosted blocks and fluted blocks, underscoring the fact that the latest iterations aren’t always quite what you remember from your aunt’s gaudy apartment or the restaurant with a smoking section where you celebrated family birthdays.

Glass blocks have more than just good looks going for them, too. They’re a relatively affordable choice for homeowners who want to add architectural interest or natural light without sacrificing privacy. They’re even known for enhancing fire safety. “Glass blocks have this inherent luminosity to them, while also solving … technical problems,” says Brendan Guerin, founding member of the firm Guerin Glass Architects, which operates in Honolulu, Los Angeles and Brooklyn. Here’s why the glass block renaissance just makes sense.



Privacy and light

There’s a very good reason glass blocks became so associated with luxury ’80s and ’90s bathrooms: They let in natural light without exposing inhabitants to the outside world the way a typical window would. This remains a key draw for architects today. Brad Swartz of Brad Swartz Architects, a firm that specializes in urban spaces in Sydney, explains that glass blocks were an ideal solution when he was tasked with designing a home in an alleyway, along with designer Henry Wilson. The location was dark and tight, with neighbors in close proximity. Swartz stacked glass blocks, etched on one side to enhance privacy, around nearly the entire front of the house.

Maison de Verre, Paris

“The way they let light through is really beautiful and changes throughout the day,” he says. This project drew inspiration from one of the most enduring glass block masterpieces: the Maison de Verre, a 1930s residence in Paris distinguished by its glass blocks with circles in the center. Like Swartz and Wilson’s alleyway project, the Maison de Verre includes entire walls of the material. According to west Michigan-based WMGB Home Improvement, a remodeling company that specializes in glass blocks, the most popular version it sells has a wavy pattern that diffuses light. However, it provides numerous designs and even colored blocks.





snip

[Walleye]

1. I've always been a big fan of glass blocks, great lighting for portraiture

[NJCher]

2. they are surprisingly easy to keep clean

I have a master bath walk-in shower which I had constructed with them.

[mitch96]

3. Love the look of glass block. I had a huge sliding glass door in my last house. I wanted french doors so I

used glass block on either side to take up the space. It looked wonderful. In the morning as the sunlight would pass thru the block and I had strange shapes dancing on the walls. Magic.
I know people have put in narrow floor to ceiling glass block in the bathroom..Nice effect.
Everything old is new again..
m

[CrispyQ]

4. Swoon! I love glass blocks! And lamps, & glass partitions, & stained glass anything.

That glass guard a the top of the stairs in photo #5.

I want to buy my new light fixtures here. https://bicycleglass.com/

[3catwoman3]

8. Ooohh - yummy stuff!

Bookmarking for later. Thanks!

[AllaN01Bear]

5. i have a book from the 40s that show how to lay those blocks . like regular bricks .

[Deuxcents]

6. My grandmother's entry way to her house was all glass blocks

Big terracotta tiles on the floor and that house was built before I was born n I’m 77. It has survived a few hurricanes and it’s still home to some people today. I love most of the old architecture down in Miami before the beautiful people found out about art deco and South Beach.

[AllaN01Bear]

7. my eye dr has a wall with those bricks in their front office .

[chouchou]

9. I like the look but, in these days of weird human realities, I'll pass.

I'm a little paranoid. True. "Zeke, Wonder if them glass things break easy" ..and they are expensive nowadays.

[Lunabell]

10. I've always loved the look of glass blocks.

You get privacy but lots of light.

[applegrove]

11. My grandmother had them in her stairway in her kitchen. The house was built

Last edited Mon Jun 24, 2024, 11:32 PM - Edit history (1)

in the 19teens or 1920s and renovated in the 1950s I think.

[Niagara]

12. Neato!

I know that I must be getting old when I find myself liking certain vintage house features such as:


terazzo flooring


oak wood kitchen cabinets


transom windows (I do see these windows are backing a comeback)


pocket doors (These are making a slight comeback)


glass blocks