The problem with having an older sibling is that they ruin magic and expose you to frightening realities—anything from outing Santa Claus to making you watch scary movies. So it was that I came to see The Shinning at an inappropriate age, when I was being “cared for” by a babysitter who did nothing but go along with the desires of my older brother. Hence, the screening of Kubrick’s classic. But sometimes the world works in your favor and even little sisters can get their revenge. I got mine in spades when the aforementioned babysitter—who was watching the movie on our living room television set while sitting on a glass coffee table—suddenly broke through the glass. The sound of the shattering glass reverberated like a gunshot, scaring both the babysitter and my brother beyond their appropriate thresholds of fear. It was poetic justice for me: they turned off the film and made those horrible twins in that horrible hallway disappear. In case you’re wondering, nobody was hurt in the coffee table fiasco.

I-Beam. Designed by Jean-Marie Massaud for Glas Italia.

Glass Benches and Chaise

This is a very long introduction to a new collection of glass furniture designed by Jean-Marie Massaud for Glas Italia. The I-Beam group includes an ingenious glass chaise lounge which “has a seat in curved glass, supported by a vertical shaped element.” But have no fear! I-Beam is made of 12 mm-thick tempered glass: strong enough to hold anybody (even my evil babysitter). The chaise and the other pieces in the collection, low tables/benches, are available with removable black cushions to make sitting more comfortable. I-Beam would not have been possible without its special construction technique: “Although the glass junction is very little and linear, the adoption of high resistant structural gluing enables the use of these elements as seats.” The fact that the pieces look like joists is an added bonus—I-Beam is as architectural as it is ghostly. The beauty of Massaud’s collection lies in its paradoxical quality: while the structure is transparent, it is also virtually invisible—like a dark fog on a stormy night.