LUXFER PRISMS AS A NEW BUILDING MATERIAL
Luxfer Prisms form a new building material.
They do not merely perform the functions of window glass; for the window,
as ordinarily supplied with window glass, does not enter into the
architectural scheme of the building but may be regarded as an interference
with the same, or a necessary evil. With Luxfer Prisms, properly applied,
the conditions are entirely reversed. The wall surfaces of the building
may be preserved by the use of this material which may become one of the
principal ornamental features of the building. An inspection of some of
the illustrations in this book will reveal the fact that where Luxfer
Prisms have been properly applied, even to the most expensive and ornate
buildings, they are found to be a highly ornamental feature in the
entire façade. When looked at from the outside they do not have
the appearance of glass, for they so lend themselves to the scheme of
exterior treatment as to become a part of the whole surface. By the
use of the "Iridian" product, a design may be inwrought upon the face
of the prism plates in variety and beauty only limited by the capacity of
the designer. This design may correspond with the designs worked into
the surface of the building and with the style of the entire front so
that the window becomes a part of the decorative scheme, in exactly
the same manner, and to as great a degree, as any other part entering
into its composition. This opens a new field to the artistic designer,
and offers a wide range of possibilities to the architect who has
heretofore been forced to cut his building to pieces in order to light
it, and has been confined to the decoration of the meager wall surfaces
around monotonous openings in the walls. When Luxfer Prisms are used
as a filling for the window openings, their action and effect is
totally different from that of glass. In the first place, they have
an appearance of being opaque, with as rich and substantial a surface
as any part of the wall of the building. In the next place, when the
material used is that which is known as "Iridian," the effect produced
by means of the interaction of prisms and pattern is that of prismatic
crystal, indescribably
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