Announcing the Winners of the GANA and USGlass Photo Contest -- Only Online USGlass

Only Online - USGlass September 2006

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Announcing the Winners of the GANA and USGlass Photo Contest

Recognizing that architectural glass is being used in many innovative, creative applications, the Glass Association of North America (GANA) and USGlass magazine created a photo contest to recognize some of these uses, and a call for entries was issued last year.

"GANA was excited to co-sponsor this photo contest," said Ashley Charest, GANA account executive. "Glass is a beautiful product and any way that we can support capturing that beauty is our privilege."

"There are so many intriquing and innovative glass applications we wanted to find a way to recognize some of those projects," said Ellen Giard, editor of USGlass magazine. "We were excited to work with GANA on this photo contest and to provide readers with an opportunity to express not only their glazing creativity, but photographic skills, as well."

Companies could enter in either the professional or amateur category and could submit photographs that illustrated a variety of glass applications and innovations.

The winners each received a glass award created by Arch Deco Glass (a division of Arch Aluminum & Glass). The awards were structured of laminated 1.5-mm glass with a metallic background.

Professional Category Winner
The award in the professional category went to Jeff Millies of Hedrich Blessing Photographers in Chicago. The photograph was of Prospect High School in XX. Robert Shimer, general manager at Hedrich Blessing submitted the photograph and described the project.

"Adding a new library and cafeteria to the 1950s-era Prospect High School posed many visual challenges. Foremost, the expression needed to be inspirational, yet compatible with the existing architecture," he wrote in the entry. "Curtainwall proved a superior aesthetic choice. The exterior expression is simultaneously solid and transparent, plain and textured. The full height glass permits natural light to penetrate deep into the occupied spaces while seamlessly relating to the architecture of the original building. For this application, a tartan grid of deep and shallow mullion covers transformed normally flat and shadowless curtainwall by adding an ever-changing shadow line over the arced surfaces."

Amateur Category Winner
Winning the amateur category was an image of the Millennium Park fountain in Chicago that was submitted by Circle Redmont of Melbourne, Fla.

"All of our employees were very excited to take part in this historic project," said Fred J. Sandor, president of Circle Redmont. "We are extremely proud of the innovative glass brick walls we created and it makes it even that much sweeter when others recognize our products and the projects in which they are installed."

Circle Redmont designed, engineered and fabricated the two 50-foot high by 25-foot wide stainless steel and glass brick towers that make up the interactive fountain located in Millennium Park. The prefabricated glass brick wall panels were built at the company's facility and then erected at the jobsite under the company's supervision. The concept for the fountain was created by Spanish artist Juame Plensa.