Journal article
The zipper gasket: a flexible link between cars and curtain walls
Giorgio Marfella
CONSTRUCTION HISTORY-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSTRUCTION HISTORY SOCIETY | CONSTRUCTION HISTORY SOC | Published : 2019
Abstract
The zipper gasket was an innovative glazing method introduced after World War II to overcome problems of safety and installation in curtain walls. Invented at first for automotive windshields in the United States, the technique used neoprene compression gaskets to secure glass in window frames without wet sealants. The first application of zipper gaskets in a building dates from the mid-1950s in the curtain walls of the General Motors Technical Center, near Detroit. The glazing method was subsequently used in several prominent American high-rise commercial towers, most notably in the headquarters of glass manufacturer Libbey-Owens-Ford, in Toledo, Ohio. Zipper gaskets found discrete internat..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge the beneficial input and valuable suggestions of two anonymous peer reviewers of this paper and Barbara Floyd for her friendly hospitality and sharing of information from the Libbey-Owens-Ford Archives. Access to the LOF Archives at the Ward M. Canaday Centre, University of Toledo in Ohio was funded by an Early Career Research Grant of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. The author is also thankful to the organisers and attendees of the Third Annual Conference of Automotive Historians Australia, where the idea for this paper began to take shape in August 2018.