The realization of doubly curved façades often requires large investments in fabrication equipment and produces additional waste through subtractive fabrication processes and non-reusable molds. In glass construction, elastic bending techniques can be used for small curvatures. This paper continues previous research of the authors on bending rectangular glass elements into irregularly curved panels. First, we analyze the stresses occurring in cold bent glass during assembly, thus defining a particle-spring model which is able to compute approximate stresses in real-time during the bending procedure. In a second step, we compare the structural performance of the bent glass with that of flat panels using FE-analysis. Finally, we illustrate the implementations on multi-panel façade layouts. We analyze the dependencies between curvature, gap-tolerance and panelization. We present a method to minimize gap-tolerances by optimizing the distribution of surface curvature. Our results highlight the structural and geometrical potentials and possible applications for curved glass construction.

The following paper explores the application of hybrid timber-glass elements on semi-continuous architectural structures. The use of glass as a structural material opens multiple fields of investigations. Beyond structural matters and safety issues, architectural questions as functionality and spatiality are briefly addressed, since they are paired with the structural layout. Furthermore, the potential of a glass plate system of overlaying, but yet discontinuous glass elements is addressed in more depth. Geometrical specifications on the structural glass application are elaborated on and generalized into a 'card house' algorithmic discretization model. Through the design and fabrication of a 'case study', the parallel use and digital simulation and empirical physical testing are discussed. A further potential use in the construction industry of the system is debated.