Windows Have It

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Well, I say the windows are the eyes of a building. That might sound strange, but think about it for a second. Picture yourself on the ninth floor of a building, gazing out over the cityscape below. Now, imagine you are the building looking out of its eyes. Does that make sense?

I don’t know; maybe it doesn’t. That’s what my sister told me when I explained it to her before. But what does she know? She’s never had my affinity for the built environment, and has trouble seeing the depth of character that I see. I guess it comes from being an architect, so I can’t really blame her.

Back to the point I was originally getting to, which is this: window tinting is like sunglasses but for buildings. Right? They provide UV protection while giving an impression of coolness that can’t be achieved with any other accessory. Seriously, window tinting for offices is like small cyberpunk shades for late 90s Keanu Reeves.

Now, let’s talk about decorative glass film. Melbourne friends, what are your thoughts? I’m at a loss, because here’s where my comparison to sunglasses starts to unravel. In my view, it kind of diminishes the true nature of windows, which (as I’ve said) is to be the eyes of a building. This would surely make decorative films and frosting akin to some kind of cataract… but then, maybe my whole metaphor is wrong.

I can’t let go of it, though. To really understand it, maybe you’ve got to be on that ninth floor looking out at the city, but in a beautiful apartment during a spectacular Autumn sunset. Maybe that’s what it takes to see that buildings must, surely, have eyes. If they don’t, then we have no right to create them with such fabulous views.