Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Kina 343 days ago
This reminds me of modern windows having fake panes. They’re just strips that are applied to give the impressions that there are multiple smaller panes because people are used to that and it feels “correct”.

I have to imagine past glassmakers would have been absolutely enthralled by the ability we now have to make uniform, large sheets of glass, but here we are emulating the compromises they had to make because we are used to how it looks.
1 comments
throw0101d 343 days ago
> They’re just strips that are applied to give the impressions that there are multiple smaller panes because people are used to that and it feels “correct”.

It is more than just 'feeling correct': windows and their various (sub-)elements that make them up (can) change the architectural proportions and how the building is perceived as a whole:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAMyUoDz4Og

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c8Ahs9Tcnc&t=49

It is similar with columns: they're not just 'tall-and-narrow', but rather have certain proportions and shapes depending on the style and aesthetic/feeling one wishes to convey:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_order

And these proportions can even be 'fractal': the window panes related to windows as a whole, related to the building as a whole:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-0XJpPnlrA&t=3m13s

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rectangle

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_designed_with_th...

* https://www.nngroup.com/articles/golden-ratio-ui-design/

link
UltraSane 343 days ago
I strongly doubt that multiple smaller panes would have ever become a common style if we could have always made large glass panes. This is a perfect example of people becoming very used to a style forced by a technological limitation that is emulated even after the limitation doesn't exist.
link
throw0101d 343 days ago
> I strongly doubt that multiple smaller panes would have ever become a common style if we could have always made large glass panes.

Perhaps, but if you're going to have them anyways you might as well make a conscious choice as to how they add to the overall design of the structure.

link