{{short description|Flooring composed of transparent or translucent glass}} {{about|an architectural feature|limitations on career advancement|Glass ceiling|the 2004 ''Maritime'' album|Glass Floor|the short story by Stephen King|The Glass Floor}} [[File:Ostankino glass floor.JPG|thumb|upright|Glass floor at Ostankino Tower, Moscow, Russia]] [[File:US Navy 050507-N-5595G-001 A mother and daughter look at Roman Era findings that are visible through the floor in the new Navy Exchange (NEX), which recently opened at the Gricignano Support Site.jpg|thumb|upright|Glass in-floor display case showing Roman artifacts in Naples, Italy]] '''Glass floors''' are made with transparent glass when it is useful to view something from above or below; whereas translucent glass is used when there is no need to view through. In either case, toughened glass is usually chosen, for its durability and resistance to breakage.
==Flooring== [[File:Opportunity.jpg|thumb|The glass floor is also used in general offices for design purposes.]] Translucent floors are sometimes set into outdoor sidewalks and pavements, or the floors of well-lit interior spaces, to daylight the space below. These are generally called pavement lights, and have a long history.<ref name=recon>{{Citation | title = Seattle Prism Light Reconnaissance Study | author = Institute for Public Service, Seattle University, Marie Wong|display-authors=etal | year = 2011 | url =http://allianceforpioneersquare.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Seattle-Prism-Light-Reconnaissance-Study.pdf }}</ref>
Glass as a flooring material is used in both residential and commercial structures. Special hollow glass blocks known as '"glass pavers" are often used in combination with a metal frame. Glass floors are often lit from below with natural or artificial light, or may be treated as ordinary floor surfaces illuminated from above.
A German manufacturer of squash court floors has diversified into making glass floors for other sports, such as a glass basketball court. Their glass floors usually are translucent rather than transparent, and the line markings are indicated by illumination with LEDs below the floor.<ref name=ASB>{{cite web|title=The Floor of the Future|url=http://asbglassfloor.com/index.php|website=ASB GlassFloor|publisher=ASB Systembau GMBH|access-date=2014-06-04}}</ref>
On occasion, transparent display cases are built into the floor, such as in the Museum of Sydney in Australia, where the remains of drains and privies are shown in their original context, along with other archeological artifacts.<ref name=Sydney>{{cite web|title=Museum of Sydney Guidebook|url=http://www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/guidebooks/museum_of_sydney_guidebook|work=Sydney Living Museums|publisher=Historic Houses Trust of NSW|access-date=2014-01-03|quote=Underfloor: The remains of first Government House’s drains and privies are exposed below the floor. Also displayed is a selection of relics, ruins and rubbish from the house retrieved by archaeologists in the 1980s.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110024216/http://www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/guidebooks/museum_of_sydney_guidebook|archive-date=2014-01-10|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Tourist attractions== Usually made of a toughened glass which is also laminated for structural strength, a transparent floor is most commonly used as a tourist attraction. Glass-bottom boats are popular for allowing a better view into the body of water.
At 4000 feet (1219 m), the highest glass floor above ground is the novel outdoor application of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, operated by the Hualapai Indian tribe.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} The highest above ground level in a freestanding structure is in Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea at 1,568 feet (478 m).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/456735-highest-glass-floor-observation-deck/|title=Highest glass-floor observation deck|website=Guinness World Records|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-08}}</ref>
In May 2014, the top layer of a glass floor spontaneously shattered in "the Ledge", a popular tourist attraction more than {{convert|1500|ft|m}} above street level, near the top of the Willis Tower in Chicago. Spokespersons for the architect (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) and the tower management said that the broken glass was a protective layer, and that two other slabs of glass beneath it were strong enough to prevent anybody falling through.<ref name=Campbell-Dollaghan>{{cite web|last1=Campbell-Dollaghan|first1=Kelsey|title=The Willis Tower's 103rd Floor Glass Skydeck Cracked Last Night|url=https://gizmodo.com/the-willis-towers-103rd-floor-glass-skydeck-cracked-las-1583211680|website=Gizmodo|publisher=Gizmodo.com|access-date=2014-06-04|date=May 29, 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-willis-tower-sky-deck-ledge-crack-261079001.html Coating on Willis Tower Skydeck's Ledge Cracks Under Tourists]</ref>
Some new planetariums now feature a glass floor, which allows spectators to stand near the center of a sphere surrounded by projected images in all directions, giving the impression of floating in outer space. For example, a small planetarium at AHHAA in Tartu, Estonia features such an installation, with special projectors for images below the feet of the audience, as well as above their heads.<ref name=Aru>{{cite journal|last1=Aru|first1=Margus|title=Under One Dome: AHHAA Science Centre Planetarium|journal=Planetarian: Journal of the International Planetarium Society|date=March–June 2012|volume=41|issue=2|page=57|url=http://issuu.com/planetarian/docs/june2012smaller|access-date=2014-06-04}}</ref>
==Use for study== Scientific studies of locomotion and gait have used glass floors to enable views from all angles.
Glass floors have also been used by artists to study foreshortening. The surrealist painter Salvador Dalí had one built in his studio to help him with the dramatic perspectives in some of his artwork.<ref name=Dali>{{cite book|editor-last=Ades|editor-first=Dawn|title=Dalí's optical illusions : [Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, January 21 - March 26, 2000 : Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, April 19 - June 18, 2000; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, July 25 - October 1, 2000]|year=2000|publisher=Yale Univ. Press|location=New Haven CT|isbn=978-0300081770|pages=17–18}}</ref>
==Observatories with glass floors== <gallery mode="packed"> File:Calgary Tower's Glass Floor.jpg|Calgary Tower, Calgary, Alberta, Canada File:CNTowerNastyFall.jpg|CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario, Canada File:Glassfloor.jpg|Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth, England File:Tokyo Tower look down window.JPG|Tokyo Tower, Tokyo, Japan File:Looking down from Tower.jpg|Blackpool Tower, Lancashire, England File:2017 Tower Bridge 006.jpg|Tower Bridge, London File:Willis Tower (25609258473).jpg|Willis Tower, Chicago </gallery>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass Floor}} Category:Floors Category:Glass architecture