I hope to establish some reasonable guidelines for the use of glass
in our exhibition components.  For durability reasons we plan to use
many glass display cases in our new museum where we anticipate
that they will see long and heavy use.  Because the New Zealand
building and safety codes are a bit vague on the use of glass in
museum displays, I am wondering what standard practice is in other
institutions around the world.

Three questions:

When using glass in your displays, how is it determined when some
form of ÅsafetyÛ glass should be specified?

When glazing to protect vulnerable 2-D art works, what criteria
determine the choice of glass or plastic?

Without getting too gory in your replies -- is anyone out there
aware of museum visitors (or artefacts) being injured by glass
display elements breaking?

Thanks for sharing any thoughts on the subject.


Robin Parkinson
Head of Design
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Wellington
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