On Transparency and Hidden Mechanisms – Glassmaking workshop

With Linda Da Costa, artist

In the framework of the exhibition The Mindful Hand by Eva L'Hoest 

This workshop offers an introduction to the art of stained glass, while exploring how designed environments influence human behaviour and perception.  

Participants will learn the basic techniques of stained glass making—cutting, assembling, and constructing small glass houses. Alongside the practical work, we willl draw inspiration from two seemingly distant yet deeply connected concepts: American psychologist B.F. Skinner’s ideas on behavioural operant conditioning and German fantasy fiction writer Paul Scheerbart’s vision of glass architecture as a transformative force in society.  

As we work, we will consider questions such as: 

• How do transparency and visibility affect our sense of freedom and control? 


• Can architectural design shape or influence our behaviour, consciously or unconsciously?  


• How can glass both have liberating and confining effects on our contemporary lives? 

We will also read and discuss excerpts from Scheerbart’s book Glasarchitektur, reflecting on how his utopian idea of colourful, bright cities relate to our current reality. 

The workshop aims at getting familiarised with an ancient yet contemporary craft, thinking about how we shape architecture—and how it, in turn, shapes us, and reconsidering the role of design today. 

Short bio.

In 2020, Linda Da Costa earned her diploma in glassmaking from the Contemporary Art Academy Gerrit Rietveld, in Amsterdam. This department provided her with a strong sense of community, which she experienced through the process of making glass—a medium that demands collaboration, as one cannot work alone to create a piece. Linda quickly engaged in material research while working with glass, alongside neon, waste, water, metal, and electricity. Her work explores the interplay of materiality and the body, both physically and in more intangible, sensory realms. 

Visual © Linda Da Costa