As a beer lover and a fan of 3D printing, I decided to make something that I would use and enjoy. I always thought the movement to remove bottle caps was odd—you use two hands, tilt your wrist and lift your elbow. That seemed like a lot movement for such a small act. I simply wanted a nice looking opener to put on my fridge, grill or any magnetic surface so the opener could sit out of the way but be easy to find and use when I needed it.

I knew I wanted my opener to be small, but simply shrinking a bottle opener can reduce mechanical efficiency. I took a step back to think about how the hand works and redesigned the opener to take advantage of grip strength. By locking the thumb and gripping the neck of the bottle, the cap pops right off with the Throttle Opener.

Please visit Throttle Opener HERE to learn more about the Kickstarter campaign.

3D printing allowed for quick testing and redesigning

Attach to Any Magnetic Surface

This week, adidas is released their 3D Runners to the market, meaning they're right in the thick of 3D printed footwear madness, along with Reebok, Nike and Under Armour. What sets adidas' take on the manufacturing trend apart from the rest is the contrast between their soft knit upper and their rigid, web-like sole.

In traditional adidas runner style, the knit on this pair is very cozy and is complete with cushy ankle padding. When zoomed in, you can see how the 3D printed heel counter resembles a thumb print/wood grain combination and integrates with the shoe's midsole. This feature avoids the typical process of gluing or stitching—a plus for manufacturers.

Heel counter meets top of sole.

The sole's web structure is based on density zones—dense zones in high force areas and less dense zones in lower force areas. At first, it was hard to tell which zones were more or less dense, but when you flip the shoes upside-down, it becomes more clear:

Toe sole density vs. arch sole density.

You can see that the densest part of the web is in the center of the shoe, followed by the heel area and then the toe area. The grip on the 3D Runners is also interesting—the shoe is very flat with some raised rubber circles in varying sizes.

The stiff 3D printed material raises some concerns with movement allotment, but the idea of using a 3D printer to customize a web-like sole's density in certain areas is exciting. I could see this working well for professional athletes—having custom 3D printed shoes for each player that vary in sole density based on the individual athlete's needs. 

Mikal Peveto, Senior Director of adidas' Future team, seems to be on the same page: 

This is just the beginning. Creating customized shoes based on an individual's footprint—including their running style, foot shape, performance needs and personal preferences—is a north star for the industry.

* * *

Crescent Moon is also experimenting with new materials this month—they've recently announced their foam snowshoe, which will be hitting the market next year to keep us agile in the snow. 

The funky snowshoes that highly resemble sneakers are a bigger deal than you'd think. Most varieties are made with an aluminum frame, but—big shocker alert—manufacturers are realizing that composite-bodied and plastic designs work best to keep pep in winter enthusiasts' steps. 

The first snowshoes can be traced back around 4,000 years, but it took us this long to come to the conclusion a new material—specifically running shoe go-to EVA foam—and a new structure inspired by a snow tire's traction would probably work way better. It's okay though, at least we got to this point eventually. 

Crescent Moon's President and Co-Founder, Jake Thamm, accurately describes their creation as a lovechild between adidas running shoes and Blizzack snow tires. If you're wondering what they look like in action, here's a video of someone gracefully running down a snowy hill while wearing them:

The snowshoes will be available to purchase in Fall 2017 at a retail price of $149—significantly lower than Crescent Moon's aluminum models. Get ready. 

Core77's editors spend time combing through the news so you don't have to. Here's a weekly roundup of our favorite stories from the World Wide Web.

Their Tube - When Every Moment Can be Recorded and Shared, What Happens to Childhood?

A creepy article about real kids constantly feeling the need to perform in front of an invisible audience—the Internet. I'm curious to see how YouTube and other technology exposure will effect Generation Z in the long run, but I guess we'll have to tune in next decade to find out.

—Emily Engle, editorial assistant

Finding North America's Lost Medieval City

Apparently Cahokia, which thrived roughly 1,000 years ago near present-day St. Louis, was a city of 30,000 inhabitants—larger than London or Paris at the time. "And as huge garbage pits full of animal bones, drug paraphernalia, and fancy pottery attest, everybody at Cahokia loved to party."

—Rain Noe, senior editor

5 Things I Learnt as a Designer at LEGO

An industrial designer and UX designer shares a few fundamental lessons from his time working at Lego that can be applied to any design project.

—Stuart Constantine, publisher and managing partner

How Cars Went From Boxy to Curvy

An interesting video showing how car designers' sleek tweaks on sharp, bulky cars from the 1950s made vehicles more economical while also helping to establish the curvy car as the official ride of the future.

—Allison Fonder, community manager

Wooden Spoon

Jimmy DiResta is the man who can make anything out of anything. I love how he starts with orthographic projections while turning this block of spruce into a serving spoon. Also see how he turns a utility blade into a tiny card scraper:

How to Make a Router Jig for Cutting Ellipses

Izzy Swan's grasp of geometry is unparalleled. Here he shows you how to create a router jig that lets you cut perfect ellipses, and also shows you a Swan-approved drill bit and driver kit for 20% off:

How to Make an Urban Sawmill with a Beam Saw

They're clearing tons of forest in Izzy's neighborhood, and the construction company throws the trees into a woodchipper. In order to salvage this free wood instead, he builds a sawmilling rig that he can attach a beam saw to:

The Ornament and The Tree

An exceptionally cinematic video from Frank Howarth this week--and for Howarth that's saying a lot! We get to see him create an unusual Christmas ornament, and also see the family harvesting their own Christmas tree:

A Series of Very Cool Wooden Boxes

Here Jay Bates shows you how to make internal components for the wooden boxes he made last week:

And here's the cool variety of designs you can produce using those techniques:

Building a Custom Steel Fire Pit

April Wilkerson's back with a plasma cutter and welding rig this week, creating a fire pit out of steel:

Jointer Safety/Efficiency Hack

The Samurai Carpenter shows you how to use high-friction rubber to make using your jointer safer:

LED Fairy Light Globes

Linn from Darbin Orvar hacks some Christmas globes to illuminate them from within:

Rogue One Shore Trooper Helmet

Star Wars fan Bob Clagett makes an impressively convincing Shoretrooper helmet from Rogue One:

Tiny House Closet Slides from Shower to Over Toilet

In an effort to squeeze efficiency out of every last square inch of a tiny house, Ana White figures out how to make a suspended closet that can slide into the shower when it's not being used:

LED Sign

La Fabrique DIY whips up a simple backlit sign for their new office in Paris:

Big Movie Prop Clock

Laura Kampf turns some reclaimed wood and a ton of lightbulbs into a prop clock:

DIY Marble Side Table

Ben Uyeda works with a material we might not think to reach for: Marble! Here he shows how easy it is (assuming you have a tile saw) to turn the stuff into a side table:

Laser Cut Pill Box

Another quick one from Ben, this one sponsored by Rockler and their full spectrum desktop laser cutter:

Making Frankendrill - DeWalt Drill With A Makita Battery

When there's a will, there's a way. John Heisz had a DeWalt drill with a dead battery, and a worn-out Makita impact driver with a good battery. Here's how he hacked the surviving parts together:

Making A Zip Tie Holder

A practical project from Nick Ferry to keep his zip ties organized:

Building a Moxon Vise

Dustin Penner creates a beautiful-looking, and of course functional, Moxon vise:

Here's a special Part 3 to our Makers Roundup. Matthias Wandel visited John Heisz's shop, and this bromance/rivalry yielded a lot of content:

Sliding Camera Gantry

This is a quick one of Wandel touring Heisz's shop. Watch for the two parts in the middle and end where you see Heisz's wicked, normally unseen sliding camera gantry:

Two Ways Not to Unfold a Bandsaw Blade!

Wandel and Heisz troll the safety trolls, with Wandel showing you how not to do this:

DIY Dovetailed Beam Compass

Wandel shows the features of his DIY beam compass design:

Looking Over John's Homemade Bandsaw

Wandel points out some of the smart design features of Heisz's homemade bandsaw:

Comparing Strip Sanders

Which is better? You decide

Homemade Clamp Rivalry

Here they improvise a clever way to test the strength of each of their clamp designs.

Box Joint Jig Rivalry

Wandel and Heisz breaking each other's stones over their respective designs for tablesaw box joint jigs. Some of you may cringe but I found it funny:

B/E Aerospace B/E Aerospace is the world’s leading manufacturer of aircraft cabin interior products. B/E Aerospace designs, develops, and manufactures a broad range of products for both commercial aircraft and business jets. For more information, visit the B/E Aerospace website at www.beaerospace.com

Shenzhen has been called the Silicon Valley of China. But as a manufacturing powerhouse we feel it's also the 1950s Detroit of China, just with electronics, not sedans, rolling off of assembly lines.

Shenzhen's staggering tech and production capacity has yielded the Huaqiangbei mega market, a sprawling, open-to-the-public marketplace that sells every conceivable type of electronics component. Parts can be bought in quantities of one to 100,000. 

If you knew what you were doing, you could stroll the aisles, buy every single component required to build an iPhone for under $100 and assemble one yourself.

Here maker movement proponent David Li, co-founder of the Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab, provides a tour of Huaqiangbei:

Simone Giertz also paid a visit, though unchaperoned:

Li's claim that Shenzhen is home to 400 industrial design firms employing 150,000 working industrial designers is staggering. While a chunk of those designers are probably occupied with copying the designs of others, Li did point out that at least two original products that proved to be global hits were conceived of in Shenzhen: The Selfie Stick and the wheeled hoverboard (though the tendency to explode has dampened enthusiasm for the latter). If we are going to see true design innovation from China in the coming years, chances are good that Shenzhen will be the epicenter.

While browsing through some designy online boutique, I found a kit for a hip, rustic present: a ball you make out of dirt. A kit... for dirt? It seemed stupid, though perhaps appropriate for a year where leather wrapped rocks sold out at Nordstrom and ecological concerns reared their tragic heads across the country. After 5 seconds of googling, I was less critical, and by 5 minutes in I was making plans for where to score the best dirt nearby. Dorodango appear to have that effect on people. 

The name Hikaru Dorodango means 'shiny dumpling' and while they're inedible, they do come in a wide variety of styles. They're hand formed out of moist dirt (like most kids will do naturally when let loose), then smoothed with dry dust, dried, and friction burnished to weird perfection. 

Making shiny hand formed mud balls dates back a good long way, but this style has seen increasing popularity since the early 2000s. The process of making them is meditative and the product is as weirdly inviting as an Ostrich egg or solid marble paperweight. While dorodango can resemble stone once finished, they do stay delicate, so if you're thinking of getting into the mud gift trade, plan accordingly.

Methodsdiffer a bit, but most advice comes down to a mix of patience, sifting your dirt, pulling enough moisture out, and polishing slowly. Do it slowly enough to come to peace with the fact that you're rubbing dirt for fun, and maybe you'll hit nirvana!

Here's the two least annoying videos on making Dorodango I could find.

Simplehuman asked dashdot to lead the industrial design of their sensor activated, illuminated vanity mirrors. The result is a family of the most advanced makeup mirrors available, with cutting edge LED and sensor technology embedded in simple, rational forms. Do your makeup in style!

Jumpstart your week with our insider's guide to events in the design world. From must-see exhibitions to insightful lectures and the competitions you need to know about—here's the best of what's going on, right now.

Monday

Nectar: War Upon the Bees

A visual essay centered on the way that disregard for bees and the "faster, bigger, cheaper" approach to modern food production is leading to severe consequences for human survival. Through various artistic mediums, the exhibit creates a rich compilation of imagery that evokes an important and socially engaged mission.

New York, NY. On view through February 11, 2017.

Tuesday

Joints + Bones

An exhibition that investigates the structure and connections of design, as opposed to surfaces or skins. Features international mix of emerging and established designers who have found innovative, beautiful and experimental ways of joining.

London, UK. On view through January 28, 2017.

Wednesday

Red A Lamp

Shifting Objects: Design from the M+ Collection

Featuring dozens of key objects and works—from mid-twentieth century Japanese furniture, to familiar products from Hong Kong's manufacturing heyday, to drones, 'copied' goods, and digitally-enabled and open-source practices—this groundbreaking show illustrates how design philosophies and practices have changed from the post-Second World War period until now.

Hong Kong. On view through February 5, 2017.

Thursday 

The Federation of Industries Building, Baghdad.

Every Building in Baghdad: The Rifat Chadirji Archives at the Arab Image Foundation

This exhibition examines the work of Iraqi architect Rifat Chadirji through the collection of his original photographs and building documents held at the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut. With the work of his architectural office, Iraq Consult, and in his other professional and intellectual roles, Chadirji became a pivotal cultural figure in Baghdad during the period of its postwar modernization from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Chicago, IL. On view through December 31, 2016.

Friday

Constructing Play: Classic + Modern Building Toys

An exciting exploration of the development of children's toys over the past 175+ years. Travel back in time to learn how different building toys were invented, designed, and branded to become the toys that still secretly educate children today! Appropriate for all ages.

Philadelphia, PA. On view through January 26, 2017.

Saturday/Sunday

Invasions

A photography exhibit accompanied by a site-specific installation, featuring work by artist, Charles Pétillon. Pétillon is known for his white balloon installations and resulting photography, which is a testimony of something that does not exist anymore. 

Paris, France. On view through January 14, 2017.

Check out the Core77 Calendar for more design world events, competitions and exhibitions, or submit your own to be considered for our next Week in Design.

Those of you sitting in office chairs right now: Imagine that your backpack is attached to the back of your chair. Now imagine trying to get something out of that backpack—without removing it, and without you twisting around or getting up out of your chair.

That's what wheelchair users go through. The back of a wheelchair is the perfect place to hang a bag, but it's difficult for wheelchair users to access. After observing this firsthand, industrial designer Yair Zur designed the Handy Bag:

Today is the last day in the Kickstarter campaign, and we're pleased to see that Zur's just surpassed his target. The company he's set up, Handy Bag Co., will focus on creating textiles-based products for people with disabilities.

Once upon a time, fans of expensive fast cars in far off markets had to
wait and get the leftovers after the cars had been on the market in other
countries for years.

Now, Ferrari has demonstrated that the way to do it is to cultivate a
group of fans in each country so that they can, in effect, have a cheering squad in each location. Ferrari has been marketing their cars in Japan for 50 years, so it was in Japan (for now anyway) that they created an exclusive model for this technique. In mid-December, Ferrari introduced the J50, and they said it would be an exclusive.

The bodywork from the side view is similar to the Alfa 4C roadster in that
the body sides sweep up to become part of the roof. Ferrari explained they
wanted that for a very low-look. Adding to that design feature is the slanted top edge of the side window and a raked black swage line, which rises from the low-set nose until it vanishes in the air intake aft of the doors.

Some in the design world call that "sunk down in the body" look the "helmet
visor" effect, which Ferrari claims in their press release "is reminiscent
of Ferrari's open competition barchettas (a word referring to their early
roadsters that were like "little boats"—Ed.) going as far back as the 1950s."

They also re-introduce a "dividing line," in this case a black inset groove—one which they say recalls the one on the iconic GTO, F40 and F50. It seems odd that the black groove only goes half way along the side and then disappears, but that is done on purpose to emphasize the new shape of the body side as it melds into the roof.

The bonnet section is lower at the center with raised wheel arches, which
they say is part of mid-engined sports cars. Two carbon-fiber air channels
in the front bonnet create an even more diminutive and sharper looking
front. They are using full LED headlights to create a specific and very
dynamic profile. From the side view, though, those headlight nacelles look
a lot like those on a Camaro of some decades past to me.

In the rear there are quad round taillights just like the good old days of
Ferrari, though now they follow the curve of the rear valance panel and are illuminated by LED lamps.

Differences from the 488 they started with are that the radiators are
positioned closer together and the front bumper has been completely
redesigned. The windscreen header rail has been lowered, allowing more
airflow over the aero foil and thus over the rear spoiler.

Are you the type who likes to see the engine even when the bonnet is
closed? Well, the engine is framed by a transparent polycarbonate cover. There
are two transverse aerofoils as a bridge between the hoops, which they say
recalls the "distinctive features of Ferrari sports prototypes of the
1960s."

The wheels are 20" forged rims crafted specifically for this limited-edition model. Inside the cabin, specific trim adorns the sports seats, echoing the design of the rear bonnet contour to provide an unmistakable signature feature. The carbon-fiber targa top is divided into two pieces, which stow behind the seats.

The J50 shown in Tokyo was finished in a special shade of three-layer red
with a red-over-black interior, trimmed in fine leather and Alcantara.
The engine has been given another ten hp., for a 690 horsepower rating.

When the story hit the wires, Ferrari said only ten will be made. Stay
tuned for updates in case they change their mind….

About the author: Wallace Wyss is the author of 16 car books and a fine artist. For a list of available automotive renderings, write Photojournalistpro@gmail.com.

In nearly three decades as an industrial designer, Eric Strebel has amassed a good amount of prototyping tools and skills. Here he employs those tools and shows you his design process, from start to finish, as he retrofits a Letrajet Air Marker to accept markers from other major brands. (And no, he doesn't just 3D print a new shell and stop there; he goes the extra mile to create a silicone mold and cast the part in resin.)

Next up, he uses the air marker to help him render what appears to be a Bluetooth speaker and lamp that can wirelessly charge your phone:

Strebel is the founder of Detroit-based Botzen Design.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: • Ensure that the design of every communication and design project of the company is on-brand and creatively realized. • Support other designers with designs, feedback, and or execution of projects. • Create and Design collateral marketing pieces for digital and print output. •

Japanese eaters have demonstrated a pretty intense hankering for fried chicken, and millions celebrate holidays like Christmas by sharing a steamy bucket of the good stuff with their loved ones. But with fried chicken comes fried chicken fingers, and good old Col. Sanders is here to help. KFC Japan has unveiled an intriguing eating-aid to keep cleanliness closer at hand: the Finger Nup [sic].

Some filthy minded individuals on the internet have already chimed in with some alternate suggestions for what the "nups" look like. But I think they seem like a half-handed gesture at a real solution to clothing ruined during a chicken bender. 

Food customs being obviously regional and my Japanese cultural literacy being low, I can't say whether this two-fingered promotion is really a good idea. It gets at the glistening heart of why eating chicken can be a dangerous affair, but who the hell eats with just thumb and forefinger?

Less greasy, still slippery?

The finger napkins have been rolled out at over 200 Japanese KFC locations to test consumer interest, and similar products are already a big hit in Korea. If they prove as popular IRL as they have been online, maybe even Americans will give up our hard earned greasy fingertips.

If your work requires you to flatten thin pieces of wood, but you don't have the space for a planer—or you just can't afford one—here's an intelligent alternative if you've got a drill press. A company called StewMac has been providing tools to luthiers (guitar manufacturers) since 1968, and here's their Safe-T-Planer:

I've heard that non-drilling items like spindle sander attachments for drill presses are a bad idea as the bearings aren't meant to withstand lateral forces over time; but as the Safe-T-Planer is only removing 0.005" at a time, the stress on the bearings is probably minimal to non-existent. And at just 50 bucks, this thing looks like a steal.

Thanks Porter!

ETCH is proposing a new method of displaying time that exploits a physical 3D effect. In the digital world, we're used to seeing 7 segment digit displays, graphical engraved or embossed fonts and regular displays and clocks everywhere. We wanted to blendall these common experiencesin an unconventional way while creating a "wow effect" and surprise at the turn of every single minute.

Italian designer Marco Vignotto runs OU:RS Watches, a company whose catch phrase is "Watches made out of time." To that end, Vignotto creates watch faces that evoke old industrial spaces through his materials choice: Rust and concrete.

The rest of the watches are made from stainless steel with leather wristbands. They feature Japanese movement and are water-resistant. And each face is made individually.

"We don't have the aim to be a 'brand,' an impersonal company behind a logo," Vignotto writes. "We like more to be a workshop that creates handcrafted dials, that makes every watch unique, special."

It appears that at the website, you browse and pick the specific, actual watch in the photo. Check 'em out here.

Structural engineer Michael Ludvik primarily creates bold, creative structures out of glass. But he also spends a fair bit of time playing educator— teaching building designers, architects and regulators about the strength and diversity of using glass as a structural element.

"Michael helps us architects realize dreams that we don't even have," said Audrey Wu, a senior associate and project architect at Gensler, a leading global design and architecture firm based in San Francisco. "Your natural instinct," Wu said in a Nov. 21 telephone interview, "is that you handle glass with kid gloves, but Michael helps educate us, as well as building officials, about the strength that glass does have."

For his part, Ludvik— who operates his own firm M.Ludvik & Co. in Brooklyn, N.Y.— notes that glass is indeed brittle, but it's also strong like metal. The key to building big glass structures, he says, is "to engineer around the brittleness." New and existing technologies help to do that.

Laminated glass, a composite type of safety glass that holds together when shattered, has been around for decades. Typically, two or more layers of laminated glass contain an interlayer, usually of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which keeps the layers of glass bonded even when broken and prevents the glass from shattering into large, sharp pieces.

One also can chemically strengthen glass in a post-production process involving a salt bath. This type of glass is being used in the aerospace industry and is becoming more common, explained Ludvik, an Australian who has spent most of the past 15 years living in New York City. The process is expensive, but allows one to use complex geometries, and yields glass that is every bit as strong as structural steel— though it still needs to be laminated to serve as safety glass.

This was the process used to produce the glass used in one of Ludvik's most spectacular applications— the SkySlide on the new U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles. The 45-foot-long slide is 4 feet wide, 3½ feet tall, made of 1¼-inch-thick, triple-laminated hurricane glass, and is mounted on the outside of the skyscraper, some 1,000 feet above the ground. Hardy souls can buy a ticket to slide down the clear glass tunnel, from the 70th to the 69th floor. The slide is part of the building's Gensler-designed, open-air Skyspace Observation Deck, which became California's tallest when it opened this past summer.

Ludvik collaborated with Gensler on parts of that observation deck and on the U.S. Bank building's main lobby, with its 34-foot-tall structural glass. Ludvik engineered that wall with curved glass and super tall glass fins.

He also has been involved in some other high-profile projects, including designing the distinctive, triangular glass TKTS booth in New York's Times Square where theater-goers buy tickets.

Glass also plays a central role in the Gensler-designed, $200 million, 500,000-square-foot Hyundai Motor America headquarters and Tech Center building in Fountain Valley, Calif., on which Wu was the project architect. That effort won a 2015 Merit Award from the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIALA).

"We used 15 different types of glass on the project to tell the architectural story and meet energy, acoustical and visual and thermal comfort requirements," Wu said. "Given that the car company wanted freeway presence, we sited the building just over 100 feet from the 405 freeway. This necessitated the use of acoustical glass (3/8" outboard lite, plus 1" argon-filled interspace, plus ¼" laminated to ¼") on three sides of the unitized curtainwall and a 9-foot tall, cantilevered, laminated sound wall for the roof garden."

Meanwhile, firms such as Eastman Chemical Co. have been helping to advance both the performance and aesthetic properties of glass for years. Eastman significantly boosted its holdings in this sector in 2012 when it acquired Solutia Inc., the world's leading producer of interlayer films for laminated glass, including the market-leading Saflex® brand. In the same deal, valued at about $4.7 billion, Eastman also acquired Solutia's Vanceva brand of PVB-based, colored interlayer films.

Julia Schimmelpenningh, Eastman's global architectural applications manager, is a 29-year industry veteran who a decade ago also served a year as president of the Glass Association of North America. In a recent phone interview, she explained how the technology surrounding colored glass has evolved over more than half a century.

In the 1950s, earth tones such as blues and browns dominated among the limited colors of choice for glass interlayers. The early 1990s brought advances in color-blending technology, with firms looking at how paint was mixed and applying that approach to color creation for interlayer films. The Vanceva portfolio back then was based on nine foundational colors that could be combined to create some 3,000 unique colors by layering interlayers to create the desired hues. This was done instead of directly extruding the color as a single sheet, giving laminators and designers tremendous color flexibility from the nine base tints.

Vanceva films are 15-gauge, or just 0.38 mm or 15,000ths of an inch thick, vs. the more traditional 30-gauge interlayer films in the U.S. that are twice as thick. Schimmelpenningh noted, though, that the Vanceva system is designed to layer the colors to achieve "custom" colors. That means that although the Vanceva films are made as 15-gauge interlayer, the use of the product ranges from 15 to 60 gauge, depending on what colors the users choose for their projects.

The Vanceva color system is now based on 16 basic colors. While more layers are possible, Eastman recommends limiting the number of layers in any given laminated glass construction to four. The resulting combinations produce individual colored glass, and can yield a broad spectrum of colors that are unachievable using stock selections of glass.

Today, Schimmelpenningh said, "Vanceva color interlayers can be combined to produce more than 17,000 transparent, translucent, or solid color options to help you create the perfect tone and intensity."

Laminated glass made with these interlayers delivers effective protection from UV radiation, blocking up to 99% of damaging UV light. And the Vanceva interlayers themselves are made with heat- and light-stable colorants that resist fading and ensure long-term color stability. This unleashes a world of possibilities for architects and designers who wish to inject a splash of color into their projects.

To underscore this point, in 2000 Solutia launched a design awards program to recognize the creative architectural use of laminated colored glass. Known now as the Vanceva World of Color Awards, this contest recognizes its winners at the international Glasstec trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Eastman crowned the latest winners at Glasstec this past September, with top honors going to a stunning shopping mall in Malmö, Sweden. Called Emporia, the mall features two main entrances with each made of colored curved glass -- one using amber Vanceva color interlayers and the other one in blue. It's like the sun and the sea at opposing ends of this massive structure, notes Eastman. In between, three stories of blue, red and green-themed retail space are arranged in a figure-eight layout. The architect's goal was to confer these colors while maintaining high transparency and low hazing.

Entrance to the Emporia shopping mall in in Malmö, Sweden.

Entrance to the Emporia shopping mall in in Malmö, Sweden.

Spanish glass fabricator Cricursa manufactured 567 molds to slump a total of 815 curved glass panels. It implemented a new way to control curved glass tolerances in 3D geometries. The largest panel in the project measured 3,571 x 2,718 mm, or just under 12 x 9 feet.

Ludvik also noted other Eastman products that are playing a key role in architectural glass construction these days. Its XIR® solar control film for laminated glass is a very thin (2 mil) PET film with a low-E coating that helps to improve a building's energy-use performance. XIR has a low-reflectance appearance that allows more than 70% visible light transmittance while reflecting about 50% of the invisible heat. Gensler used Eastman's XIR film on the 30-foot-tall structural glass walls in the U.S. Bank building's main lobby in Los Angeles.

Ludvik also likes the Eastman's Saflex® DG structural interlayer film. Made from plasticized PVB, the latest version—Saflex DG41—offers an extra-clear version of this existing range, Ludvik said. The DG series provides superior structural capacity and is designed for use in applications where increased interlayer rigidity and high glass adhesion are required relative to standard glazing interlayers. It's also compatible with the Vanceva color system.

Corning Glass Museum in Corning, NY

Schimmelpenningh sees this new structural interlayer as a definite growth area, enabling greater use of glass in floors, stairs and walls.

She also sees a big trend toward acoustic dampening for glazing, to help minimize or isolate noise transmission from the outside and between spaces on the inside. A soft, rubbery interlayer can enhance sound dampening. Ludvik notes that "breaking up the geometry" of a building's hard surfaces also can play a large role in enhancing acoustics.

Regarding colored laminated glass, Schimmelpenningh noted some geographical and cultural differences. In the United States, not surprisingly, the first city to adopt the product in a big way was Las Vegas, and particularly on The Strip, with its neon lights and blazing colors. Generally speaking, Asian countries have been early adopters, and Latin America, where there's a love of rich, vibrant colors, became the first region to use the Vanceva Color system widely in interiors. The Middle East favors more subdued colors, and tends to use vibrant colors only as an accent.

Eastman supplies its interlayer film material in rolls, and Schimmelpenningh suggests that one of the biggest challenges involves getting customers to understand the nomenclature used to designate the thousands of different color combinations. The firm hosts "lunch and learn" sessions, consults with customers of specific projects, and offers a lot of supporting information on its Vanceva website. Once Eastman spells out how the system works, and all the possibilities, Schimmelpenningh says, "You can see the lightbulb go on, and the wheels go in motion."