Manhattan, NY

Created with artist and friend Kiki Smith, the window is a meditation on the highly ornamented interior of the historic synagogue built in 1887 (Deborah Gans left, Kiki Smith right). The window extends the field of stars found on the wall into the literal space of the window, where the light activates them. Its configuration of ribs emanating from a central oculus is reminiscent of the domes in the ceiling. In both the existing synagogue and the window, the six-pointed star is reserved for the center. The full geometry of the window is a series of arcs, generated from the six points of the central star that continue, conceptually, beyond that circumference to infinity.

The window melds historic and cutting edge stained glass technology. Layers of traditional mouth-blown blue glass are adhered with silicon to large sheets of clear glass, eliminating the need for lead came frames, which are replaced by cracks of light. The stars are hand painted with traditional silver stain or gold leaf. The stained glass fabricators, Gil Studio, used the silicon adhesion technique for the first time ever in the United States for this project. The central star is a single piece of cast glass that extends upwards and out of the bronze frame. 

Project Team:

Gans and Company: Deborah Gans, Kiki Smith, Gianluca Mezzanotte, Isobel Herbold

Frame and Window Fabricator: Femenella and Associates

Stained Glass Fabrication: Gil Studio

Cast Glass Fabricator: Linda Ross

Selected Awards and Publications:

AIA National Faith and Form Award

Interview with Serena Altschul, CBS News 12.05.10

Interview with Leonard Lopate, WNYC 12.01.10

Bortniker, Larry. Beyond the Façade: A Synagogue, a Restoration, a Legacy: Museum at Eldridge Street. Scala Publishers, 2011.