A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material, a sash set in a frame in the opening; the sash and frame are also referred to as a window. Many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation, or closed, to exclude inclement weather. Windows may have a latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut or to hold it open by various amounts.
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term "stained glass" to include domestic lead light and objets d'art created from foil glasswork exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage, which in turn is used as a floating hull. The fuselage also serves to position the control and stabilization surfaces in specific relationships to lifting surfaces, which is required for aircraft stability and maneuverability.
Float glass is a sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin, although lead and other various low-melting-point alloys were used in the past. This method gives the sheet uniform thickness and very flat surfaces.
A shoji is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque fusuma is used. Shoji usually slide, but may occasionally be hung or hinged, especially in more rustic styles.
Polyvinyl butyral is a resin mostly used for applications that require strong binding, optical clarity, adhesion to many surfaces, toughness and flexibility. It is prepared from polyvinyl alcohol by reaction with butyraldehyde. The major application is laminated safety glass for automobile windshields. Trade names for PVB-films include KB PVB, Saflex, GlasNovations, Butacite, WINLITE, S-Lec, Trosifol and EVERLAM. PVB is also available as 3D printer filament that is stronger and more heat resistant than polylactic acid (PLA).
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid support to the glazing of the window. Its secondary purpose is to provide structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Horizontal elements separating the head of a door from a window above are called transoms.
Cylinder blown sheet is a type of hand-blown window glass. It is created with a similar process to broad sheet, but with the use of larger cylinders. In this manufacturing process glass is blown into a cylindrical iron mold. The ends are cut off and a cut is made down the side of the cylinder. The cut cylinder is then placed in an oven where the cylinder unrolls into a flat glass sheet. William J. Blenko used this method in the early 1900s to make stained glass. The result is much larger panes and improved surface quality over broad sheet, although still containing some imperfections. These imperfect panes have led to the misconception that glass is actually a high-viscosity fluid at room temperature, which is not the case.
Crown glass was an early type of window glass. In this process, glass was blown into a "crown" or hollow globe. This was then transferred from the blowpipe to a punty and then flattened by reheating and spinning out the bowl-shaped piece of glass (bullion) into a flat disk by centrifugal force, up to 5 or 6 feet in diameter. The glass was then cut to the size required.
Architectural glass is glass that is used as a building material. It is most typically used as transparent glazing material in the building envelope, including windows in the external walls. Glass is also used for internal partitions and as an architectural feature. When used in buildings, glass is often of a safety type, which include reinforced, toughened and laminated glasses.
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet of glass.
Leadlights, leaded lights or leaded windows are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came to be known as came glasswork. The term 'leadlight' could be used to describe any window in which the glass is supported by lead, but traditionally, a distinction is made between stained glass windows and leadlights; the former is associated with the ornate coloured-glass windows of churches and similar buildings, while the latter is associated with the windows of vernacular architecture and defined by its simplicity.
A muntin (US), muntin bar, glazing bar (UK), or sash bar is a strip of wood or metal separating and holding panes of glass in a window. Muntins can be found in doors, windows, and furniture, typically in Western styles of architecture. Muntins divide a single window sash or casement into a grid system of small panes of glass, called "lights" or "lites".
Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is sometimes bent after production of the plane sheet. Flat glass stands in contrast to container glass and glass fibre.
The Thomas R. McGuire House, located at 114 Rice Street in the Capitol View Historic District of Little Rock, Arkansas, is a unique interpretation of the Colonial Revival style of architecture. Built by Thomas R. McGuire, a master machinist with the Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, it is the finest example of the architectural style in the turn-of-the-century neighborhood. It is rendered from hand-crafted or locally manufactured materials and serves as a triumph in concrete block construction. Significant for both its architecture and engineering, the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1991.
The Walter V. Davidson House, located at 57 Tillinghast Place in Buffalo, New York, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1908. It is an example of Wright's Prairie School architectural style. The house is a contributing property to the Parkside East Historic District, a neighborhood laid out by renowned American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1876, and also a City of Buffalo landmark.
The Cass Building is a low-rise office building at 455 West Fort Street, at the southeast corner of First Street, in Detroit, Michigan. It is also known as Detroit's Work Place.
Insulating glass (IG) consists of two or more glass window panes separated by a space to reduce heat transfer across a part of the building envelope. A window with insulating glass is commonly known as double glazing or a double-paned window, triple glazing or a triple-paned window, or quadruple glazing or a quadruple-paned window, depending upon how many panes of glass are used in its construction.
Solarized architectural glass is a type of architectural glass, used as a building material, that has changed color as a result of a chemical reaction between a glass decolorizer and ultra-violet light. Sometimes known as "desert glass", or "sun-purpled glass", solarized glass is most commonly observed as bottles and glassware. However, solarized glass does occasionally appear in architectural contexts and uses, especially window panes, doorknobs, and pavement lights. The physical characteristics and the relative rarity of this glass for windows has meant that it is understood as a distinct glass type.
French Gothic stained glass windows were an important feature of French Gothic architecture, particularly cathedrals and churches built between the 12th century and 16th century. While stained glass had been used in French churches in the Romanesque period, the Gothic windows were much larger, eventually filling entire walls. They were particularly important in the High Gothic cathedrals, most famously in Chartres Cathedral. Their function was to fill the interior with a mystical colored light, representing the Holy Spirit, and also to illustrate the stories of the Bible for the large majority of the congregation who could not read.
