Glazing and glass structures are among the defining stylistic elements of facades in secular High Modernist architecture (ca. 1880–1970). Although these contribute significantly to the appearance—and thus to the authenticity—of a facade, in practice, original glass and glass structures are often replaced. To counteract further loss, there needs to be greater awareness among relevant stakeholder groups of the value of historic glazing. Building on the basic research project “MatGlas,” this issue is being addressed through a knowledge transfer project.
The goal is to disseminate the key findings from the MatGlas project in a comprehensive and application-oriented manner. To date, this knowledge has primarily been available in text format and is too rigid for practical application. Goal 1 is to adapt it to digital formats (the project’s wiki website), supplement it with new formats such as OER self-study courses and instructional videos, and share it in person at conferences. The goal is to develop an app-based knowledge aggregator built on a commercial citizen science platform. This user-friendly tool (mobile app) combines the ability to record components on-site with access to specific knowledge items from the wiki for labeling and classifying the collected data. As a prototype recognition and mapping software, the app makes a significant contribution to the centralized collection of data from a wide variety of information sources (citizen science).
The third objective is to identify and generate new knowledge and to open up new fields of research. The growing dataset is being analyzed in collaboration with data specialists to develop automated recognition methods (e.g., supervised learning) in order to study the inventory of glass and glass structures as well as their local characteristics, to address questions related to structural engineering and restoration science, and, looking ahead, to quantify the urban glass inventory. In addition to exploring the possibilities of citizen science in this context, the goal is to lay the groundwork for user-friendly, subject-specific documentation of structures worthy of preservation.
Through collaboration with relevant industry and planning stakeholders, heritage preservation—within an interdisciplinary network that includes research institutions—enables the accurate identification, chronological classification, and professional evaluation of the elements that define a historic building’s character, as well as the multilateral transfer of knowledge. This provides impetus for new scientific questions in basic research, which contribute to preserving the authenticity, materiality, and continuity of existing High Modernist glazing.
