Nyon/Switzerland in around 1880 / 1885, probably produced under a licence agreement by S. Reich & Co, Vienna c. 1900, mould-blown glass, the surface hermetically sealed by molten glass, with impressed mark: FALCONNIER 6, dimensions: height c. 20 cm each. The set includes 40 whole blocks. Falconnier’s glass building blocks were included in the collection of the MOMA, New York. (MHA)

Cf. Lit.:
P. Antonelli, Design. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York 2003, p. 152. Gustave Falconnier was a successful Swiss inventor and businessman who had his ‘briques de verre’, manufactured with the aid of special technology, patented in France in 1886 and in the USA in 1889. That same year he was honoured for his invention at the Paris World’s Fair, and subsequently prominent architects such as Hector Guimard, Auguste Perret, and Le Corbusier used the new, highly weatherproof, and versatile material for their modern translucent glass walls, which met the highest standards also in terms of technical quality. Falconnier’s invention was so successful that licence agreements were concluded in numerous European countries and the USA. In Austria, the Vienna-based company S. Reich & Co, specialised in lamp shades and glass bottles, produced the ‘briques de verre’ until well into the 1930s.