In Great Glass Buildings , Peter and Jennifer Hyatt present fifty exemplary modern projects that explore a number of theories about the nature, mystique and attraction of glass in the architecture of recent years. Variously performing roles that include giftwrap, lightweight armour, transmitter and insulator, glass began its re-emergence as an architectural force during the 1990s, as a symbol of new modernism. Advances in glass-making and construction technology and the advent of structural glazing, fixing systems, glass coatings and waterproof connections have transformed the ambitious dreams of the past into reality. Including projects by Foster and Partners, Murphy Jahn, Santiago Calatrava, Shigeru Ban, Renzo Piano and many others, this book reveals the complex nature of glass in today's architecture.