ART GLASS WINDOW, Rochester, N.Y.
RETROFIT TEAM
GLASS ARTIST: Nancy Gong, Gong Glass Works
MATERIALS
Renowned glass artist Nancy Gong showcases Bendheim’s mouth-blown Lamberts glass and an innovative lead-free lamination technique in a bespoke art glass window. The 10 1/2-foot-tall abstract artwork defines the street-facing facade of a private residence, located in Rochester’s High Falls historic district. It provides color, light, and privacy, simultaneously complementing and contrasting with its traditional surroundings.
“I don’t know how people can design or live without this sort of glass in their buildings,” Gong says. “I chose Lamberts glass for its quality—to match the integrity of the design.” For this project, she focused on a design and color selection that “diffuse views from the outside and fill the space with soul and joy.”
According to the artist, the different hues in the window were inspired by the personalities of the home’s residents. The colors and the delicate “wavy” texture of the blown glass create vivid dappled reflections that enliven the interior during all times of the day, seasons and weather. The window provides a high level of privacy while filtering colored light inside. Backlit at night, it becomes luminous art, projecting its colors onto the street.
Key to the design, Bendheim’s Lamberts mouth-blown glass in a range of colors and patterns—from streaky whites to flashed ambers and reds—adds to the artisanal appeal of the piece.
Glassblowing is an ancient craft, shaping molten glass into functional objects for design and architectural applications. It is a highly technical artform that requires specialized training and skill. Long-lasting colors are achieved by adding various metal oxides to the raw glass batch. For example, cobalt produces blue while gold creates pink. Bendheim’s mouth-blown architectural glass is produced by Glashütte Lamberts in Germany. Characteristics of this glass include the mild surface texture and occasional air bubble inherent to original handmade antique window glass.
To create the painterly lead-free window, Gong carefully cut complex shapes out of the 2- by 3-foot mouth-blown glass sheets, then laminated them together onto a base of clear tempered glass, akin to a glass jigsaw puzzle. The resulting glass assembly met modern building safety codes. It was then mounted on the interior face of an insulated window.
MOUTH-BLOWN GLASS SHEETS: Glashütte Lamberts, Bendheim
THE RETROFIT
The home, built in 1906 in Rochester’s 19th century industrial center, was initially a machine shop, then a commercial office space. The recent renovation of the 2,000-square-foot structure involved attaching a neighboring 3-story building that houses bedrooms and home-office space. The art glass is a focal point of the facade and interior.
PHOTOS: John Griebsch, courtesy Bendheim
