Boston, Here I Come!

I’ll admit it: I’ve been looking forward to this week’s American Institute of Architects (AIA) Convention for months now. And yes, I’m looking forward to the insightful seminars on topics such as “Daylighting Obstacles,” “High-Performance Enclosures” and “Energy Codes and Fenestration.” And the interaction with architects expressing where they see demand for glass heading, providing the fuel for many articles to come. And the many appointments set up with companies such as Zeledyne (formerly ACH), which is going through such an exciting transition right now, and others that are just hinting at exciting product introductions to come. But can I be honest with you for a minute? Truth be told, I’m really excited about spending four days in Boston.

I’ve actually only been to Boston once, as part of a school trip back in college. My roommate was a historic preservation major and I was just interested enough in the fascinating topic to take part in the club activities and trips (but not the intensive class work; we lucky English majors just had to curl up with a good book!). What a great way to see a city, though, through its historic architecture.

The first thing I remember about that trip is that it was March and the wind was blowing furiously to the point that our group of 16 traversed the city through a complicated system of coffee shops in order to stay out of the cold: walk a block, stop in Starbucks, walk two blocks, pop into a local coffeehouse, walk half a block until the wind picks up, time for another caramel macchiato.

The next thing I remember is visiting Paul Revere’s house. And, ironically enough, even all of those years ago what interested me the most about the small, historic house surrounded by skyscrapers was (you guessed it) the glass in the windows. No, I am not making this up.

The tour guide explained that you could tell that several of the original lites were still in place because of the lavender color they had taken on over time. (One online source tells me the color change was due to an excess of manganese oxide in the glass. Another says the color was the result of ultraviolet light on the imperfections in a shipment of glass sent to Boston around 1820. Your thoughts?) He also noted that there was a barely perceptible difference between the thickness at the top of each small pane from the bottom because the glass was slowly “dripping” down, glass being a liquid and all … Is that so, I thought at the time. How would you have responded to this comment? Throw your best technical jargon at me so I can casually spout this industry knowledge to other tourists next time I make my way back to Paul’s home.

That visit probably won’t be during this trip. Hopefully I’ll make it out of the convention center for five minutes this week to explore more of this fascinating city. Being time crunched, I sure would appreciate it if you would stop by the USGlass booth, #14165, to share your recommendations of must-see examples of Boston architecture. I’d love another tour like the one I recently took part in while in Las Vegas for Glass Fab. You can bet I’d be staying extra days if it weren’t for the fact that my brilliant and wonderful sister is graduating from the University of Virginia this Sunday with a bachelor’s degree in German and a minor in French (I just had to get that “shout-out” in there). Congratulations Robyn!