Glass houses

“From the vast liquid mass he extracts ready-made beams, slabs, wedges, and keystones, moulded, or rather cast, according to an architectonic plan… Glass vents in the ceiling regulate the desired temperature and constantly let in fresh air… Water cools the walls, (the) very same water constantly washes the glass floors, walls, and ceilings, bringing cool and cleanliness.” This is how Seweryn Baryka, a character in Stefan Żeromski’s novel ‘The Coming Spring’, described his vision of houses made of glass. Over the last century in Poland this passage symbolised an unattainable ideal. On the 90th anniversary of the publication of the book and the 25th anniversary of the political transformation of the country, this slightly extended quote seems in some ways to have finally come true. If somebody in 1989 had read that there was an area of 1.2 mln sqm of new offices under construction in some country, they would certainly not have thought that it