VS1, a Tribute to the Classic Kit of Parts: LEGO
At Innovation Glass we have strived to improve glass façade architecture through the introduction of VS1, a modern and unique facade system. Influenced by many years of collecting and building LEGO®, I focused on inventing a kit of parts that responded directly to today’s high performance curtain wall requirements while also encouraging design freedom for the architect. The simplicity of this new kit and its usability across applications is reminiscent of LEGO® in three key ways. VS1 is:
Adaptable | Scalable | Understated
The spacecraft you see in this post are Collector’s Edition LEGO® models constructed by members of our team. They are located in our global HQ in New York, and serve as constant inspiration for using our own kit of parts to achieve excellent architecture.
ADAPTABLE
From a cubic modernist home to a folded geometry of 726 pieces of glass, VS1 exists to bring designs to life. Just as LEGO® can build Hogwarts or the Millennium Falcon, so too has VS1 achieved an astounding level of variation.
SCALABLE
VS1 has been used for an all-glass entry vestibule as well as a 24-story warped glass tower in Bangladesh; it supports the gallery walls of the new Statue of Liberty Museum in New York and a 120,000 square-foot faceted wall of mixed materials in India. Like with a large LEGO® set, complexity doesn't necessarily increase with size. It is the power of simplicity of the kit of parts that allows that high level of complexity to be achieved in a predictable manner.
UNDERSTATED
A person always knows they are looking at a LEGO® construction, which is a powerful attribute to the brand. LEGO®'s power derives from the ability of the individual components to blend into the background in service of the larger design. If one looks at the models in our studio, at first glance they're observed as models of Star Wars spacecraft. Only upon closer inspection does the viewer understand it’s a LEGO® set. With its uniform and subtle interface LEGO® is able to achieve a stunning level of design variation, thus the viewer and builder are left remembering the extraordinary outcome, all made possible by the genius of the original kit of parts. The same is true of VS1.
