Beautiful Features: Toluca's Cosmovitral Botanical Garden

About an hour’s drive from Mexico City, in the city of Toluca, there is a botanical garden that heavily features stained glass murals to the point that the garden plays second fiddle. This Cosmovitral Botanical Garden was at one time an enclosed marketplace. When the market closed down it was converted to a botanical garden and filled with giant installations of stained glass.

By Lexaxis7 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Naturally decisions like this do not come easily. In fact the city’s leadership grappled over the future of the building that housed the marketplace. With its art deco design and prominent metal and glass roof, the building seemed destined for a second life of accessible beauty in spite of proponents’ arguments for privatization or demolition. Finally, a man named Leopoldo Flores stepped in. Already an internationally known artist, Flores had the vision to infuse new life into the crumbly old building by filling it with art and stained glass. He fought for the building's future and after months of paperwork and advocacy he convinced Toluca’s mayor Yolanda Sentíes to repurpose the old marketplace accordingly.

Flores and sixty artisans worked for three years to design and combine approximately 500,000 glass pieces into the murals. Twenty eight different colors of glass were used, coming from all parts of the world. The themes depicted center on “universal dualities and antagonisms, the struggle between life and death, good and evil, day and night and creation and destruction, all shown in a cosmic continuum”. Up, down, and all around, these images surround the garden experience.

Central to the garden’s imagery is the Hombre Sol pictured below, representing mankind and marking our harmonious balance with all the forces illustrated throughout the building. Each year on the spring equinox, the sun aligns with this panel, visually setting the Hombre Sol on fire.

By Diego Callejas [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons

Watch this video en Español to take a virtual tour and learn more about the history of Cosmovitral Botanical Garden:

Uno de los vitrales más grandes del mundo mediante el cual su autor, Leopoldo Flores, manifiesta su visión del mundo y el origen del universo.

Icon Shapes: Tom Fruin's Watertowers

Though a bit outside the realm of stained glass, Tom Fruin’s steel and plexiglass sculptures evoke the dazzling color and light displays inherent to the stained glass medium. These watertowers, as well as his Kolonihavehus sculpture located in Copenhagen, assert themselves architecturally, evoking shapes familiar to their surroundings that are also fanciful and fun in their play of color and light. These sculptures were supposedly temporary installations but it seems some or all are still in place. We will have to look for them the next time we are in NYC!

Windows into Alternative Realities: Multi-Dimensional Stained Glass by Brian Clarke

Keeping with the theme of modern art, we are sharing a couple videos about Brian Clarke, considered one of the greatest stained glass artists of our time. The first video covers an exhibition on his work, The Art of Light at the Sainsbury Centre. The second video is a long form documentary. Of the many gifts possessed by Clarke, one that particularly stands out is his ability to place stained glass in an architectural context, to expand glass’ utility beyond two-dimensions, and to create a sense of space which, through color and light, is not of this world. In Clarke’s words, “Art opens a window into an alternative reality.” Enjoy watching these videos and seeing stained glass in a whole new, transformative way.

Hockney's Abbey Windows | Where Modern Art, Technology, and Devotional Windows Are Having a Party

English painter David Hockney, most recently known as a prolific portraitist in addition to his use of an iPad as high art medium, recently completed a window for Westminster Abbey. Unveiled on September 26, 2018, the window was also designed using an iPad. Helen Whittacker at Barley Studio brought Hockney’s vision to life using traditional methods to translate Hockney’s playful, celebratory imagery. Commissioned in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, the window depicts hawthorne blooms representative of her love for nature as well as, in Hockney’s words, “champagne poured over everything.” Most exciting is what this window represents in terms of the nexus between modern art, technology, and devotional windows: there remains a long and diversified future for stained glass in this world!

A New Era in Stained Glass

Great article and pictorial from Architectural Digest sharing some of the beauty that stained glass has to offer -- but with a twist. Usually when we think of stained glass we envision churches or Victorian-era motifs, however all the applications shown here are quite modern and abstract.

As you can see from the article, contemporary spaces can benefit from the addition of art glass, whether to create privacy, obstruct an unattractive view, or add new dimensions of light and color to the interior space. Unembellished, simple rooms can be transformed into colorful, light-filled sanctuaries with the addition of art glass. In commercial spaces art glass can help communicate and bolster your brand. Beyond the confines of a frame or casement, the glass can be designed to create moods or experiences. And as the article mentions, should you move you could always relocate the glass.

We recently experimented with a tessellation (pictured below) that would be gorgeous in a contemporary space whether transitional or fully modern. Imagine a larger scale application of this design and its colorful light pattern cast across a lobby, dining room, or bathroom suite. Or, similarly, a modern interpretation of sacred geometric patterns reminiscent of Islamic art. No matter the inspiration, the outcome is always stunning, even transcendent! Please contact us if you are interested in exploring the possibilities.

Tessellation 2017 Lucas Stained Glass Design + Restoration

Stained Glass Enhances Classic Eichler Character

A few years ago one of the more significant Eichler homes - the Matt and Lydia Kahn house - went on the market. This of course gave the public an opportunity to peek behind its nondescript midcentury modern front facade. A classic Eichler interior was thusly revealed: light-filled with ample skylights, floor-to-ceiling windows, clean lines, open spaces, all opening to interior gardens and patios.

What is an Eichler, you ask? Well, it is both a man and a house. The man, Joseph Eichler, was a post-war developer who build thousands of homes in California. Inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Eichler worked closely with architects to devise his signature modernist style, creating what is now universally known as the "Eichler" house. Most notable about the house was the concept of indoor-outdoor living which prevailed throughout his developments and beyond. What should also be noted about the man was his character and his staunch support for fair housing:

A strong proponent of fair housing and deeply opposed to racial discrimination, the liberal Eichler was the first large, tract builder to sell to minorities, and even built a home on his own lot for an NAACP leader. Joe resigned from the National Association of Home Builders in 1958 in protest of racial discrimination policies and, according to reports from long-time Eichler owners, offered to buy back homes from those who had trouble accepting their neighbors.

"If, as you claim, this will destroy property values," Joe once told some disgruntled Eichler owners, "I could lose millions...You should be ashamed of yourselves for wasting your time and mine with such pettiness."

Something that stands out with the Kahn house is the use of art glass to reassert the light in pretty, magical ways. Two large "eavesdroppers" - designed by Matt Kahn himself - designate the primary entrance, offering a colorful greeting and revealing a color story to reflect the owners' personal tastes. According to the Kahn's son, Ira:

"The light in the house is just amazing," Ira said, looking towards the 'eavesdroppers.' "In the morning, when the light is horizontal, and in the afternoon, when the light is horizontal, the interior of the house is awash with color. It's marvelous to sit in the rich environment of colored light."

Two more intricate and diminutive pieces are placed in a bedroom, flanking the bed in front of frosted windows. These act more as classic framed art pieces, illuminated by the natural light diffused through the frosted privacy glass. Large, colorful glass rondels are placed in the sitting and dining area and layered in such a way to create a complementary color scheme. One bathroom features a set of hanging swirl rondels adding visual excitement to a sedate frosted privacy window.

As you see throughout, the glass can be installed as separate panels that can be relocated as needed and won't impact the original design integrity. The introduction of art glass maintains the clean, uncluttered aesthetic while offering another dimension of light and color. We see the open, clean spaces as empty canvases for colored light and an opportunity to enhance the modern interior in a novel way.

Do you live in a midcentury modern home? What color story would you like to tell? Contact us if you want to discuss.