NEW YORK | Brooklyn Tower (9 DeKalb) | 1,073 FT | 73 FLOORS

[NYguy]

Oh, stop. The glass is fine. This is a fantastic addition to Brooklyn and the city as a whole.

[ht-freak]

Originally Posted by jbermingham123

Love this tower, but the low-quality glass is a shame. This building deserves so much better

I must have missed the sign that said read "This Building Is Constructed of Sub-standard Glass and Other Components"

[chris08876]

People trippin'. Everything about this tower is grade A+++.

[chris08876]

Credit: Skyalign

[faridnyc]

Began has its presence in the skyline
The tallest building in brooklyn is the tallest building in the europe its amazing !!!!!

[pianowizard]

^ Only if you exclude Russia. Perhaps you meant tallest in the European Union.

[pico44]

Originally Posted by jbermingham123

low-quality glass is easy to spot. The reflections in high-quality glass are crisp and mirror-like, because it is perfectly flat. Reflections in low-quality glass are wavy, like a fun-house mirror, because it isn't perfectly flat. Once you know how to spot it, you cant unsee it.. perhaps this knowledge is a curse lol

You are right that poor quality glass is easy to spot. But you are wrong regarding your ability to identify it. Maybe that’s your curse?

[jbermingham123]

Originally Posted by pico44

You are right that poor quality glass is easy to spot. But you are wrong regarding your ability to identify it. Maybe that’s your curse?

Ok, so perhaps high quality glass can warped, but if it were up to me, I'd pick un-warped glass over warped every time. Maybe the top priorities here are durability, energy-efficiency, etc. and not necessarily looks?

As is probably already clear (pun somewhat intended), I dont know much about glass, and I was initially talking out of my —, so-to-speak. Nevertheless, the glass does appear to be warped in several photos, and im curious about it. What is going on there? is it just not as bad as it looks in those photos?

[NYguy]

This is certainly not a building where people will be fretting about the glass, I can tell you that.



https://www.instagram.com/p/CHk71AkFf5_/









https://www.instagram.com/p/CHkjTpyM_Hd/

[rlw777]

Originally Posted by jbermingham123

Ok, so perhaps high quality glass can warped, but if it were up to me, I'd pick un-warped glass over warped every time. Maybe the top priorities here are durability, energy-efficiency, etc. and not necessarily looks?

As is probably already clear (pun somewhat intended), I dont know much about glass, and I was initially talking out of my —, so-to-speak. Nevertheless, the glass does appear to be warped in several photos, and im curious about it. What is going on there? is it just not as bad as it looks in those photos?

Warping or oil canning is no tell-tale indication of a high or low quality glazing system especially on a skyscraper. Infact a more expensive higher quality system might have more flex than a lower quality system. For example a more expensive and more efficient 3 pane system usually has thinner individual glass panes and thus will often have more oil-canning effect than a less expensive less efficient 2 pane system that has thicker individual panes. Also in a skyscraper some flex in the glazing is desirable as the glazing system has to adjust to changes in pressure inside and outside the building. Especially in colder climates the pressure inside a building changes a lot over the year. In the summer all the cold air from the AC is trying to rush out of the bottom of the building causing high pressure at the base that is the reason for that gust of wind you feel walking into a tall building. In the winter it's just the opposite all the hot air from the heating is rushing to the top of the building causing high pressure at the top of the building.

[jbermingham123]

Originally Posted by rlw777

Warping or oil canning is no tell-tale indication of a high or low quality glazing system especially on a skyscraper. Infact a more expensive higher quality system might have more flex than a lower quality system. For example a more expensive and more efficient 3 pane system usually has thinner individual glass panes and thus will often have more oil-canning effect than a less expensive less efficient 2 pane system that has thicker individual panes. Also in a skyscraper some flex in the glazing is desirable as the glazing system has to adjust to changes in pressure inside and outside the building. Especially in colder climates the pressure inside a building changes a lot over the year. In the summer all the cold air from the AC is trying to rush out of the bottom of the building causing high pressure at the base that is the reason for that gust of wind you feel walking into a tall building. In the winter it's just the opposite all the hot air from the heating is rushing to the top of the building causing high pressure at the top of the building.

Ok thanks a lot, this makes a lot of sense.. so if im understanding this correctly, at 1WTC (just for example), which has perfectly flat panes (aesthetics were a priority there for obvious reasons), they either had to pay a lot more money, or had to sacrifice some of the building's energy efficiency and/or operational lifetime of the system, etc.. maybe both

Originally Posted by pico44

You are right that poor quality glass is easy to spot. But you are wrong regarding your ability to identify it. Maybe that’s your curse?

Another name for this curse is the "Dunning-Kreuger effect", and it has gotten me, yet again. *Dons Dunce Hat*

[rlw777]

Originally Posted by jbermingham123

Ok thanks a lot, this makes a lot of sense.. so if im understanding this correctly, at 1WTC (just for example), which has perfectly flat panes (aesthetics were a priority there for obvious reasons), they either had to pay a lot more money, or had to sacrifice some of the building's energy efficiency and/or operational lifetime of the system, etc.. maybe both

First I would like to point out that the glazing is not perfectly flat on 1WTC. Zoom in and take a look at the distorted reflection of The Four Seasons in 1WTC here

I think oil-canning is perhaps just less apparent on buildings where the facade is angled to reflect more of the sky cause I've seen people suggest similar things about the Shard in London.

It's not a single trade off there are a lot of different factors that can effect the amount of oil canning you can see in a particular facade. You can make windows smaller to see less oil canning, you might use a different gas fill, you might use thicker glass or glass with a different composition. All of those things come with tradeoffs. A less flexible glass might also be more brittle. Thicker glass might add a lot more weight to the building causing more building sway or various other structural considerations etc.

[RobEss]

Y'all know that the distance that a photo is taken from a window's reflective surface is going to change how the reflection is captured in the glass, right?

The further the distance between camera + surface, the more natural warping will become apparent in the photograph.

Physics and optics, everyone . The glass is fine.

Examples -

Near:


Far:

[NYC2ATX]

Originally Posted by NYguy

This is certainly not a building where people will be fretting about the glass, I can tell you that.



https://www.instagram.com/p/CHk71AkFf5_/

You know this photo sort of confirms it for me, and idk if it's been said here, but this tower may end up appearing to terminate the corridor of Flatbush seen here between Grand Army Plaza and downtown. I just peeked at Google Earth, and it looks like Flatbush does indeed shift a little in direction towards true north a few blocks south, at Fulton, which would place this tower in quite a nice alignment. This building will be a treat that keeps on treating my friends.

[chris08876]

It will very well have its angles. That angle that will be photographed millions of times. I expect the Flatbush Ave angle to impress.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by NYC2ATX

You know this photo sort of confirms it for me, and idk if it's been said here, but this tower may end up appearing to terminate the corridor of Flatbush seen here between Grand Army Plaza and downtown. I just peeked at Google Earth, and it looks like Flatbush does indeed shift a little in direction towards true north a few blocks south, at Fulton, which would place this tower in quite a nice alignment. This building will be a treat that keeps on treating my friends.

It will be a building that everyone in Brooklyn is familiar with, even if just by sight.

[NYguy]

Jonathan_Hawkins

[chris08876]

Credit: JDS

[Busy Bee]

Hot Damn

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Credit: JDS

oh but look at that turrible cheap smoked glass tho.