Looking Deeper in the Glass (by N D)

Oxymoron. Dark Glass. What is the point of producing glass that cannot easily be seen through? Typically, it is something used in office buildings that serves a purpose to provide adequate lighting to those working inside, but also to block out the sun, usually in taller buildings or skyscrapers. I had the pleasure of working on the 23rd floor of a dark glass building in Philadelphia whose structure was very functional, and upon my first sight of the Forum De Halles in Paris, I was surprised about the utter uselessness of the building material, which serves very little purpose in the buildings design. The emphasis of function coexisting with an aesthetic form is an important mix in today’s modern architecture. Curved dark glass on a two-story building does not protect against sunlight; it only makes it tough for passerby’s to see into shops that were meant to be seen into. Clearly, the glass was not designed to be functional, but rather to add to the abstraction of Les Halles. The building is a conglomeration of steel, glass and a garden located in the courtyard. The modern hiding the superficial highly maintained natural. The dark glass that if looked at very closely, one might be able to catch a glimpse of the inner garden. A very profound idea that relates to many things, but especially to the people of Les Halles, who range from punks to well-dressed BCBG’s. But, when looking deeper at their superficial, complicated exteriors, it might be possible with the proper eye to see the inner garden or beauty they possess.

In many photographs and movies, reflection is constantly used to provide an idea of abstraction. When you stare into the building material of Forum De Halles, you see yourself, but the question is, is that really you? Are you that person or that object, staring blindly back? Clearly, it is not, the reflection does all you do, but the opposite, you move your left eye, and it moves its right. You have dimension, it doesn’t. You live and breathe; yet, it does not. It can only exist with you there. The shopping center provides a reflection to all those who walk by. They see someone, but not themselves. They are there, but they are not. They will only be that reflection for that short of time they spend looking or walking by. Also, some of the glass is curved: within that glass you see yourself, but your shape is different. You are wider, shorter, uneven, and at times asymmetric. This is a better representation of people than flat glass; no one is as perfect as they seem through flat glass.