A “Zen” professional glass block, able of softening direct sunlight and at the same time of projecting magic shapes all around the space - a myriad of small Buddhas in prayer.
This is the latest innovation from Seves glassblock, world leader in glass block production, that provided 9,700 glass blocks for the new “Buddha Lecture Room”, a religious library in Taichung (Taiwan) designed by the architect Daniel Tai. Currently in realisation, 1,800 pieces of the global glass block supply for the project have been personalised with an ad hoc design requested by the architect: the image of Buddha in a meditative position, sitting with crossed legs on a meadow of lotus flowers.

The design is imprinted on the glass surface in a second phase of processing of the block, after it has been baked in the kiln, using a special protective mask applied before dipping the block in a “bath” of frosting, with the final effect of interplays and contrasts of chiaroscuros between the opaque treated surface and the original transparent surface.
A fast procedure giving an amazing result, affording new decorative applications for the material, in tune with the specificities of each project request. In this context, in fact, the image applied becomes not only the aesthetic motif characterising the building, but externally it allows the immediate legibility of its religious function, obtaining an attenuated and evocative atmosphere inside, one that is propitious to reading and meditation.

Latest innovation coming out from the Seves glassblock Tailor-Made service, the decoration of the surface of the block is added to the numerous possibilities of personalisation available, starting from the simplest modifications of the glass colour, finishings and designs of catalogue products, to a full-blown formal experimentations, achieving unprecedented creations.
First result of this productive capacity was the special squared glass block with maxi format 42x42x12cm realized for Renzo Piano’s Maison Hermes in Tokyo, which permitted the amazing visual effect of a continuous “all glass” façade for the first time, thanks to the combination of large dimensions and wings - the characteristic projecting external edging of the block .
The new 33x33x12cm square format comes about from the partial scale reduction of this element, accomplished so as to conserve its aesthetic characteristics while reducing its industrial costs: used for the first time in the library of Taichung, dimensionally it is halfway between the standard Q19 block and the Q42 block for Hermes, now in Seves glassblock’ s catalogue available as the large format of Pegasus.

Numerically, out of 9,700 blocks provided altogether for the “Buddha Lecture Room”, around 1,800 will be blocks of Q33 large format, personalised with the image of the Buddha, used to wrap the façade on the ground floor of the building (overall surface area 195 m2).
900 pieces of the same Q33 block, but realized in satin-finished version, will be used to cover the corners of the building (with a surface area of 160 m2) for its full height.
Finally, 7,000 Q19 standard format Pegasus blocks, in its satin-finished version, will complete the corners of the tower at the rear of the main building that contains the utility spaces and deposits for the books (with an overall surface area of 310 m2).

Installation of the glass blocks by traditional laying in cement is envisaged for June 2008. The work will be concluded by the end of the year.