Timber-Glass Composite Beams: Mechanical Behaviour & Architectural Solutions

The structural utilization of timber-glass composite solutions is a daring constructive sy stem, which although still in a very early stage, already presents an important potential of applicability in architecture. Natural lighting is a crucial factor in architectural conception, and one of the advantages of timber-glass composite beams lies precisely on the exploration of the capacities of lighting through structural elements. This means, first of all, it will allow benefiting from natural lighting in a way not much explored so far, creating light paths and improving spatial perceptions. On the other hand, the transparency of glass, associated with its structural employment, could achieve the most transcendent features of this material: magic and illusion