Glass has many interior and exterior design applications: It’s trendy, modern, and necessary for well-lit, healthy spaces. To learn a little more about industry developments and what’s important to glass manufacturers, Mark Twente, AGC Glass North America’s director of marketing, sat down to speak about trends and new developments for 2019.
What do you think the biggest trend in glass will be for 2019?
The biggest trend I’ve noticed is the use of interior glass for visual stimulation and interest. It makes a workspace, for example, look unique and well-designed. At AGC, we have developed products that are both decorative and functional. Our back-painted glass is aesthetically beneficial to a space, serving as attractive wall or a divider and also as a whiteboard or colored message board in a conference room.
Another new trend is “smart” technology and its incorporation with glass. We are excited about Halio, a smart-tinting glass. Halio switches from a natural clear state to opaque in less than 3 minutes when privacy is most needed. The glass also possesses the ability to achieve varying shades in between each extreme.
What is currently a hot topic in the glass manufacturing industry?
We aim to better understand challenges involved with producing and installing functional glass and functional glass applications. Part of our job is to devise solutions and streamline processes for everyone involved, from the design level and through the supply chain.
Photographer: kieran reynolds
Glass plays a huge role in architecture and design. From your experience, how are architects creatively using glass?
Color is being creatively used to prompt certain emotions or associations. We consider the psychology behind this when determining our back-painted glass palette. For example, blue shades are said to stimulate creative thinking and calm, which can be good for leisure facilities, office spaces, hospitals, and more. Reds can enhance energy and ambition—potentially ideal for the university setting, a hotel restaurant or bar, or a conference room.
AGC Glass North America recently announced that its new MSVD coater is now fully operational at its Greenland Plant in Church Hill, Tenn. How will this new coater enable the company to better serve its customers and markets?
AGC continues to build on the industry’s widest range of glass products with this new state-of-the-art MSVD. It delivers the most aesthetically pleasing coatings and was created to offer customized coating options to better serve the design community, presenting professionals with the opportunity to create truly unique and striking projects.
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In your opinion, what is the most exciting development from AGC over the past year?
AGC is excited about Halio, a smart-tinting glass that tints to shades of neutral gray to deliver sun blocking, anti-glare protection, and privacy—automatically or on demand—while looking like ordinary glass. With Halio, the design community can control the way users manipulate light, energy, and emotion in a building.
