Turning Architectural Glass into Art

Glass Magazine has announced the winners of the 2017 Glass Magazine Awards and Goldray Glass was excited to receive the award for the Most Innovative Decorative Glass Project for the Fish Icon sculpture at Tsawwassen Mills Mall. This prestigious awards program recognizes many talented and innovative companies in the glass and metal industry, and Goldray Glass is honored to be recognized among them.

Often, our customers have a specific design intent they want to achieve, and our expertise lies in using our knowledge and passion for decorative glass to meet their project needs and achieve their design goals. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Jeremy Gascho, one of the visionary artists/architectural designers from JPRA Design who created the Fish Icon sculpture along with his late colleague, Ken Zawislak who sadly passed away just a few months before Tsawwassen Mills opened. I was able to gain insight into their design vision and learn how Goldray’s dichroic glass played a role in bringing it to life.

Q: What was your overall design intent for this project?

“The sculpture is one of many throughout the project which relate to the theme of the neighbourhood they are located in within the mall. This sculpture is located at the entry to the Coast Salish Neighbourhood and is meant to greet visitors in an iconic and memorable way.” Explains artist Jeremy Gascho, Senior Associate at JPRA. The artists conducted research and drew inspiration from traditional Coast Salish culture and symbolism. Salmon and traditional fishing are deeply tied to the community, often represented in song, legend, and artwork. Because of this, the artists created Fish Icon as a sculptural representation of two salmon leaping from the water.

Q: What made decorative glass the chosen material?

The artists explored various shapes, orientation, and arrangement during the design process, and as a result, chose to employ innovative contemporary materials, with meaning. The woven bronze metal is symbolic of the historical Coast Salish woven baskets. The second fish is comprised of over 240 dichroic glass panels, designed to represent fish scales. Jeremy Gascho explains why dichroic glass was selected as, “The dichroic glass provides a very dynamic and changing skin of light and color that we were looking for. The transparent quality of the material also allowed the inner structure, or bones, of the fish to be displayed”. Additional design elements were included to compliment the dichroic glass, “At the base of the sculpture is a fountain with cascading water and a pool that further reflects the light and color of the fish”.

Q: How did the dichroic glass work to achieve your design intent?

“The fish shapes are meant to be very active and dynamic as if they are leaping out of the water, wrapping around each other” says Jeremy Gascho. However, bringing life and movement to a static structure can be a design and planning challenge. This is where Goldray’s dichroic glass, with it’s light reflection, transparency, and colorful properties, was a perfect fit for the design. The dichroic glass adds both movement and visual interest as the structure visibly “shifts” and changes color throughout the day with variation in sunlight. It also serves to create a three-dimensional design effect, as the panels cast colorful shadows across the surrounding courtyard, creating a memorable experience for mall visitors.

Goldray Glass would like to thank our partners that made this project possible through their hard work and dedication: JPRA Design, Heavy Industries, and Ivanhoe Cambridge. Congratulations to all award recipients for your hard work and ingenuity. All award-winning projects are featured in the Aug. 29 edition of e‐glass weekly, the September 2017 issue of Glass Magazine and on GlassMagazine.com.