Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion - in preparation of the 26th.

I couldn't make the upcoming LAUNCH trip to the Glass Pavilion so I packed up the car, grabbed the delightful MarJ and headed west towards Toledo.

We first went through the Museum of Art (due diligence states we had to see the main building since we were there anyway). I could go into all the pieces that I saw and enjoyed at that museum but really I was mostly just excited to cross the street and look at the Glass Pavilion.

My first thought was that it was a lot 'shorter' than it seemed in pictures which is fine. My second thought was 'Gee, that is quite a bit of curved glass, I wonder where it all came from'. I remember from an MMFX conference that large curved glass sheets are difficult to come by in the States. A little digging led us to the information that the glass was from China but curved in Germany before finding a home in Toledo. Quite the environmental footprint.

It was also uncovered that the plenum between the exterior glass skin and the interior rooms was heated in winter (while the main interior spaces were cooled) and that the 'wasted space' between the walls was to achieve the proper thermal barrier.

Regardless the building was quite nice. MarJ and I couldn't decide if it was the vistas or the way that the interior views were constantly layered and reflected that allowed such a 'raw' and 'cold' building to seem warm, welcoming and at times, intimate.

I spent quite a bit of time pointing out the fine detailing (much to MarJ's chagrin I am sure) and would like to congratulate the teams that constructed the building, the client for taking such an amazing leap of faith and of course SANAA for pushing forward with such a beautiful design.

I won't go on further as you should take the trip yourself.