Henry P. Glass (September 24, 1911 – August 27, 2003) was an Austrian-born American designer, architect, author, and inventor.

Biography

Born on 24 September 1911 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Glass was trained as an architect at the

Technical University of Vienna TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

from 1929 to 1936. He married Eleanore Christine Knopp in March, 1937. Glass found early success designing interiors and furnishings for Vienna's bohemian elite until the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

. He was denounced, sent to

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

, then transferred to

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

, where captors discovered his talents and forced him to design a cemetery for Nazi officers. He was finally released in 1939 through the intervention of his wife at the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

in Berlin. Later during World War II, he assisted the US military by drawing a plan of the camp from memory. He immigrated to New York City in 1939, worked for

Russel Wright Russel Wright (April 3, 1904 – December 21, 1976) was an American industrial designer. His best-selling ceramic dinnerware was credited with encouraging the general public to enjoy creative modern design at table with his many other ranges of fu ...

and for

Gilbert Rohde Gilbert Rohde (1894–1944), whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to define American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at Herman Miller ...

on the Anthracite Pavilion at the

1939 World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purcha ...

. Glass moved to Chicago in 1942, where he worked as a designer of office furniture for the war effort and studied under

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the i ...

and

György Kepes György Kepes �ɟøɾɟ ˈkɛpɛʃ(October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the Sc ...

at the

IIT Institute of Design Institute of Design (ID) at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), founded as the New Bauhaus, is a graduate school teaching systemic, human-centered design. History The Institute of Design at Illinois Tech is a school of design ...

. He soon established a career as a furniture and product designer, and opened his own design firm, Henry P. Glass Associates at the Furniture Mart in 1946. A William J. Brenner sofa designed by Glass was used on the living room set of the ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

'' show during the 1952-53 season. Henry was a great admirer of

R. Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

and he made a deposit on Fuller's

Dymaxion House The Dymaxion House was developed by inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller to address several perceived shortcomings with existing homebuilding techniques. Fuller designed several versions of the house at different times — all of them ...

, a prefabricated structure that could be assembled at any site. When none but two prototypes of this house were built, Henry decided to become the architect of his own passive solar home which was one of the first of its kind in America. The Henry P. Glass House was built in 1948 and it still stands on its original site in Northfield, Illinois. In addition to running his own industrial design business, Glass convinced the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

to create an industrial design department in 1946 where he served as a professor for more than twenty years. The Henry P. Glass collection in the

Ryerson & Burnham The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries are the art and architecture research collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The libraries cover all periods with extensive holdings in the areas of 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century architecture and 19th-century ...

Library Archives contains the original manuscript for Glass's book ''Design and the Consumer'', his teaching lecture notes, product advertisements, brochures, and photographs. Several of his pieces are on permanent display in the American Art Collection at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. His drawings and furniture scale models are much in demand by collectors. Glass was awarded 52 US patents, of which 29 are referenced online. He was a Fellow of the

Industrial Designers Society of America The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) is a membership-based not-for-profit organization that promotes the practice and education of industrial design. The organization was formally established in 1965 by the collaborative merger of t ...

and received numerous other awards. He died on August 27, 2003, at the age of 91.

Concepts, buildings and designs

Concepts: Efficiency in materials use, minimize waste in manufacturing, reduce environmental impact. Optimize shipping, portability & storage of furnishings by use of folding and collapsing design elements. This earned him the name "Folding Glass" in the industrial design community. Major design projects: *Kling Studios (1946) Chicago, Illinois *Flamboyant Hotel, Virgin Islands Architectural Work: * Warehouse Conversion to Apartment House (1934–37) Vienna, Austria * Henry P. Glass House (1948) Northfield, Illinois * Alcoa Forecast Accordium Camp Trailer (1964) for Aluminum Corporation of America * Ski Chalet (1965) Northern Michigan * Prefab High Rise (1968) for Mobile Homes Manufacturing Association

The Henry P. Glass House (1948) is arguably the first passive solar house in America and has been continuously occupied for over 60 years. Previous passive solar houses were either experimental or did not possess all the essential features of a solar home. In the Chicago area,
George Fred Keck George Frederick Keck (1895-1980) was an American modernist architect based in Chicago, Illinois. He was later assisted in his practice by his brother William Keck to form the firm of Keck & Keck. Biography Keck was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, ...
had included some of these passive solar design features (roof overhang, N-S ventilation, masonry floor) in the Spence House in 1941. Innovative new designs incorporating passive solar elements were built by
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
, F.W. Hutchinson and others but they lacked one or more features incorporated in Henry's design. It is important to differentiate these passive solar designs from the Active Design work carried on at
M.I.T. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
which required fans or pumps to transfer the heat from the collectors to storage areas.

Passive solar features of the Henry P. Glass House include: *South facing structure maximizes heat from winter sun *Large glass solar collection windows on south side *Thermopane glass used in windows reduces heat loss *Blinds over thermopane windows further reduce nighttime heat loss in winter *Angled roof provides maximum sunlight in winter *North-South cross ventilation in summer *Roof overhang shades interior of house in summer *Deciduous trees on south side provide shade in summer, allow light through in winter *Berm on south side blocks winter wind *Small windows on north side reduce heat loss in winter *Concrete slab floor acts as a heatsink to absorb thermal energy in day, release at night *Black finish on concrete floor improves thermal transfer His industrial designs include: * Inflatable Chairs (1941) * Hairpin Leg Furniture (1942) * Saran Weave Folding Lawn Recliner (1953) * Swingline Children's Furniture (1954) * Kenmar/Glass Omega Lounger (1957) * Cylindra Furniture (1966) concept developed in 1942 * Cricket Chair (1978)

Works

* * :*Seven Qualifications of Good Design Applied to Man-made Objects: ::* Function ::* Aesthetics ::* Matter ::* Process ::* Ecology ::* Economy ::* Originality

Bibliography

*Gorman, Carma R. "Henry P. Glass and World War II," ''Design Issues'' 22, no. 4 (Autumn 2006): 4-26 *Head, Jeffrey. "How Things Work: The Inventions of Henry P. Glass." ''Modernism Magazine'' Spring (2004), pp. 80–86

Former students

Charles "Chuck" Harrison Charles "Chuck" Harrison (September 23, 1931 — November 29, 2018) was an American industrial designer, speaker and educator. He was known for his pioneering role as one of the first African-American industrial designers of the era and the first t ...

References

External links

* * * * Portal:Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Glass, Henry P. 1911 births 2003 deaths Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States American industrial designers Modernist architects Jewish architects Dachau concentration camp survivors Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Architects from Vienna TU Wien alumni People from Northfield, Illinois