Confessions of a would-be glass addict

—By Meredith Lidard, Glass Magazine intern

Ever since I started interning at the NGA, it’s hard for me not to notice glass.

I never really paid attention to it before, but I definitely notice it now, something that Matt Slovick and I have in common.

On my first day here I sat down with Matt and he told me that he didn’t know much about glass before he started working here either and he never really paid attention to it, but now notices it all the time. He pointed out the apparent lack of glazing on his office windows (the sun really heats them up making a lot of offices in our building very toasty, especially when the A/C is on the fritz).

I interned for a trade publication last summer, Building Products, and I have some knowledge of the construction industry--my parents own a small, general contracting firm in Baltimore--but I never noticed how important glass is to every kind of building, from single family homes to skyscrapers.

I wanted to intern at Glass Magazine to gain more experience working in the trade publication field. Because I knew nothing about glass beforehand I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn more about an industry I was completely unfamiliar with.

I go to the University of Maryland in College Park, but I’m from Baltimore so I spend a lot of time driving up and down I-95. I sometimes zone out and go on mental cruise control during the drive and don’t pay attention to my surroundings (don’t tell my parents). There are a couple of buildings that always make me snap back to reality though. These buildings held no significance for me before except that spotting them meant I was only a few minutes away from my exit and campus. But now when I see them I notice a common element: they’re all made of glass!

As part of my daily duties I research news in the glass industry. I come across a lot of articles with accompanying pictures about new buildings and homes that use glass extensively. Here are a few of my favorites:

• http://www.smh.com.au/news/house--home/from-terrigal-to-eternity/2008/06/04/1212258868867.html
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1027956/First-picture-4billion-glass-tower-save--dwarf--Battersea-Power-Station.html
• http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-upstairs3-2008jul03,0,6611220.story http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6192815

I really enjoy checking out these glass applications. My coworkers passing by have probably overheard me “ooh-ing” and “ah-ing” and saying “that’s so cool!” at my computer screen. Maybe I should stop talking to myself at work …

I’ve learned a lot about the glass industry after just two months at the NGA. I’ve picked up on the language used around here and words like “low-E” and “curtain wall” don’t sound foreign anymore.

After I finish up my internship and resume classes in September I’ll take a second look at the glass used in buildings on campus. The university just broke ground on the new journalism building, Knight Hall. I wonder what the glass will look like … http://www.knighthall.umd.edu/