Over the last week Melbourne papers have carried stories about the new cube called ‘The Edge’ on the 88th Floor of the Eureka Towers. The trick to this is the switchable glass developed by innovative manufacturer iGlass from Ballarat. The switchable glass - lower-cost and wider than others produced internationally - changes from opaque to transparent at the flick of a switch. Viewers to The Edge suddenly find themselves suspended at 88 floors up with nothing visible under their feet. The company who designed this feature enhance the effect with music and the sound of shattering glass - not for the faint-hearted!
What I like about this is that it is real nanotechnology applied to an industrial-sized situation, and making a dramatic impact. I’m not sure I’m going to try The Edge myself - my daughter Clem is desperate to do so - but I hope it inspires architects and designers to think about the compelling effects they can get using new materials in buildings, cars, and other ordinary structures. To read some more see the NanoVic news article.
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