If you want to create an impressive sense of light and openness while maintaining privacy, glass tiles can be a clever solution to add vintage charm to your interior.

Glass tiles are a durable material that has outgrown its utilitarian origins. In the past, it was mainly used in commercial and industrial buildings, but today it is also used for windows, interior partitions, showers, and even floors.

“O’Neil & Manion Architects recently used glass walls in a new kitchen in Cheshire, Michigan, to maximize light without compromising privacy,” says O’Neil.

“It’s an efficient and elegant way to get the best of both worlds,” explains Sarah O’Neil-Manio.

Heat easily escapes through conventional windows, a major source of energy loss in many buildings. On the other hand, external wall glazing can improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs. Cement glazing actually works like double glazing: it insulates and reduces the need for daylight.

Glazed cement is not only used for external walls and windows. It can also be used to insulate other parts of the house. Concrete barriers are also burglar-resistant. This stone structure is reinforced with concrete and cannot be opened from the inside or outside without heavy machinery. The welded glass panels are almost as strong as the building’s foundation walls. Square glass blocks have been a well-known American innovation since the 1930s. However, after half a century, demand for the product started to grow. However, half a century later, demand had fallen so much that Pittsburgh Corning wanted to stop production in 1979. The product line evolved thanks to the efforts of many people, including the urban loft movement, Miami Vice, fashion brands inspired by art deco architecture, and leading architects.

In contrast to sash windows, the glass is fixed. Ventilation windows and ventilation funnels had to be installed: the first round glass windows, patented in France in 1887, were used on ship decks and as street covers in European cities. They were used in workshops, factories, and offices, and in 1932, when architect Pierre Chareau used glass panels in his revolutionary Maison de verre in Paris, glass panels became an established material for avant-garde housing.