Hello all,
I dismantled a workshop attached to the house i bought 2 years ago to build an addition. Shop was 20′ X 44′, walls had mirrored glass in them that was original to the John Hancock Tower in Boston. Glass is aprox 12′ X 5′ X 5/8″, I have 4 panes, VERY heavy, big pain to pull out last summer.
Back in 1978 when the Tower opened and the windows started faling out these things were free for the asking if you knew where tolook. The man who built the shop I mentioned really was a rocket scientist, but for all his engineering skills he was NOT a good builder. Flexible air hose running natural gas under ground to heat a greenhouse, 12 ga romex running on the surface of drywall adhered with clear silicone, hard wired Christmas lights up in the attic which were hard wired with lamp cord spliced to knob & tube etc., etc…….
Pictures below show the glass as it was installed, 1 shot from outside 2 from in. ANYONE who wants ALL 4 panes and can move it them selves is welcome to it. I am 7 miles N of Boston. Send me an e-mail.
Replies
Sorry about the J-Peg sizing for all you dial ups, I tried to go back and edit it down but..........
They posted on Craigs list fine???
I lived in Boston when those panes of glass started falling out. Those things are huge, they had half a city block roped off. Here in Maine there is a business that buys and resells things from train wrecks, closeouts, etc. Marden's. They had a few hundred of those pieces of glass in the yard. They were very large, maybe 10'x20', could have been larger. Even if they were free, the logistics of moving them and then having a place large enough to use them was a major undertaking. A few folks couldn't pass up the bargain. I always wondered where some of them went.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I fear they will lean against the side of my garage till either some punk smashes them or I leave the planet. (They will still be there then but I will stop worrying about them at least)
Sounds like a deal Rez would love...
snorK* Ya, those are a cool size. They would go well with what I have leaning against the trees out in the northforty from an auction how many years ago.
Couldn't resist a 5x8 vinyl thermo picture window still wrapped from the factory for $30. Or the various 5x6 and 4x5 type stuff of the same for less.
Yep, sure was a good deal.
Gee, just might get to use one some day.
be ain't that an ugly thing. Maybe I'll get lucky lucky and theives will steal or moth and rust will corrupt so I won't have to look at them anymore.but even uglier is if he lived local to me I'd probably get them.AAHHEEEOOOPHHHT! The roof was the soundest part, though a good deal warped and made brittle by the sun. -Thoreau's Walden
Rez
How did you resize the photos? I tried to go back and edit after initial post but couldnt figr it. :(
I use the free Irfanview photo editing download that a number of folks here use.
Here's an old link to conversations regarding it.
24441.75 The roof was the soundest part, though a good deal warped and made brittle by the sun. -Thoreau's Walden
Posted on Craigs List the other day for $1 each, inundated w/ calls. Lets seeeeee if anyone who can actually undertake moving them comes through..........................................
I'd come get them if 2600 mi. closer!
To big for 'carry on' luggage!
well if you've got a Fed Ex account # i wouold be happy to get them to you at your discretion!!! :) :)
I've got no use for the glass, just wanted to say I just read a story on a business that was set up to quietly sell off the glass as it was being replaced. Pretty interesting. The agreement was the company could have the glass but they could not mention at all where it came from - IM Pei and John Hancock already had plenty of bad press.
They marketed in the south and this worked well for them. They struck a deal with Building 19 who mentioned the source in one of their fliers and that was the end of the free glass.
I lived in Worcester when they were falling out. We used to call it the worlds tallest plywood building cuz of all the missing glass.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Two milkbones if anybody knows why the original glass failed. Interesting story actually.
Installed with Piffin screws......................[email protected]
There are different theories regarding the problem. Some suggest pressure differential on the double paned glass, faulty solder and defective silicone sealant that failed after being heated by the sun. That latter being confirmed by a structures professor that worked for Pei.
In the law suit settlement a gag order was placed on the findings for the failure. There were problems starting with the foundation. The building also moved enough to cause upper floor occupants motion sickness. There is a lot of heavy wind right there on the water. The coating on the glass was thought to cause a difference in thermal expansion. There were also theories about differences in interior and exterior pressure. Apparently the actual cause was the way the thermopane units were constructed. They used some lead tape between the panes and soldered the connection. This was a good system for smaller units but on these large copper coated pieces, the thermal expansion caused this joint to fail. The tape held so well that it would pull some of the glass surface off, starting a fracture. Gotta love Architects. Pei and Freed went on to build many other structures. They managed to cover their butts and even won awards on the J. Hancock building. About the same time, I worked on my first Architect job, nothing like the tower, just a small assisted living facility. We told the Architects at the time their design and construction was going to cause problems. I was surprised to find out a couple of years ago that the building I worked on is still in litigation 35 years later.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
"Apparently the actual cause was the way the thermopane units were constructed. They used some lead tape between the panes and soldered the connection. This was a good system for smaller units but on these large copper coated pieces, the thermal expansion caused this joint to fail. The tape held so well that it would pull some of the glass surface off, starting a fracture."We have a winner!! Two milk bones for you.
And yeah if every arhcy had to own up to their screw ups this trade would be a whole lot different.
Hold on guys - it's easy enough to dogpile on the architect, but he's definitely not 51% of the blame here. Show me an architect that is an expert on metallurgy, thermo dynamics and pressure differentials and I'll show you someone who is clearly in the wrong field.
Everyone here sniffs out the products they use to some degree, but at some point you have to rely on the manufacturer and their claims - it is their product, after all. If the product fails, why should someone who didn't manufacture the product take full responsibility?
Similar thing happened when EFIS was banned in Florida. It wasn't necessarily that the EFIS failed, it only failed to allow water to escape that came in through penetrations and leaky windows. Ever hear of a window manufacturer taking responsibility for failing EFIS?
Ever hear of a window manufacturer taking responsibility for failing EFIS?
Nope.... probably because I never heard of "EFIS"!!!! What IS it???
Ooops, did I say EFIS? I was spelling that phonetically. I meant EIFS.
Thanks, THAT explains it! NOT!
Sorry guy - that's the problem with e-mail and forums. I didn't know if you were making fun of my misspelled acronym or really didn't know.
Exterior Insulation and Finishing System. Some people call it stucco or fake stucco - the common trade names are dryvit and sto.
Read to your hearts content:http://www.eima.com/pdfs/Guide_to_EIFS.pdf
Ever hear of a window manufacturer taking responsibility for failing EFIS?EFIS stands for Electronic Flight Instrumnet System where I work and no, I have never heard of a window mfg taking responsibility for one failing ;)
I never blamed the archy for that particular fiasco. Plenty of other issues to blame them for.
As I recall, in addition to a new window design, the fix included installation of huge tuned mass dampers in an upper floor. They were designed to counteract building movement that was thought to flex the glass panels.
That technique was pioneered by LeMessurier at the Citicorp building in NYC. There was a scare that both buildings could topple over because of the sway.
They discovered that under certain wind conditions the JH tower was in danger of toppling over, ON IT'S SIDE! Put in additional support under the sides of the building.
That building has had more engineering problems than you can shake a stick at.
He's wasn't the first engineer who's building skill was vastly over rated by himself.