Sculptured gold windows

Henry Willet created the first sculptured gold window between 1948-49. When first devised, the sculptured gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 overlay was based on leaded stained glass windows. Later, faceted glass set in epoxy resin was used. These glasses, about an inch in thickness, but possibly up to two inches for special effects, contribute great brilliance of color under transmitted daylight. The sheet lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

 overlay is formed in relief by repousse (literally "beaten up from the underside") to give a sculptured effect, and is also incised with slits of varying widths to let the richly colored glass background shine through in the daytime. The fact that the sculptured lead surface has been "flown" with 23 karat gold leaf

Gold leaf

right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...

 is the secret of the brilliant metallic night effect. The appearance of silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 can also be obtained by the use of palladium leaf, which does not tarnish. The first gold window installed in a church, known as the Glory Window, was designed by Henry Lee Willet and Marguerite Gaudin in 1951 for Westwood Community Church in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

Cadet Chapel

In 1910, William Willet was invited to compete for the design and installation of the Great Sanctuary Window in the Cadet Chapel at the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 at West Point. Ten other designers, including Nicola D'Ascenzo and Tiffany Studios joined Willet in this international competition. In 1911, the studio was granted the commission of the Sanctuary window, a memorial to the graduates of the Military Academy

Military academy

A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...

. The project for the design and fabrication of the Nave and North windows was awarded to the Willet Studio. The master plan for the nave windows, which were sponsored by individual classes in the hopes that every class would eventually be represented, was devised by Bertram Goodhue

Bertram Goodhue

Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...

, William Willet

William Willet

William Willet was an American portrait painter, muralist, stained glass designer, studio owner and writer. An early proponent of the Gothic Revival and active in the "Early School" of American stained glass, he founded the Willet Stained Glass and Decorating Company, a stained glass studio, with...

, Colonel C.W. Larned and Chaplain Edward S. Travers. The window program depicts familiar stories of the Old and New Testament, as well as stories of saints from the early church. The north window, also designed and fabricated by the studio, is a memorial to the alumni who died in World War I.

The commission, which spanned three generations of Willets over a period of sixty-six years, remains the longest continuing commission in American history.

Hall of Science and Technology

The Hall of Science was designed in 1962 by Wallace Harrison

Wallace Harrison

Wallace Kirkman Harrison , was an American architect.-Career:Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center...

 for the 1964 New York World's Fair

1964 New York World's Fair

The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...

 in Flushing Meadows

Flushing Meadows

Flushing Meadows is an American short film by Larry Jordan, with director Joseph Cornell. The film is 8 minutes long, in color, 16mm, and silent....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Harrison modeled the 80 feet (24.4 m) building after the Kaiser Wilhelm

Kaiser Wilhelm

Kaiser Wilhelm is a common reference to two German emperors:* Wilhelm I, German Emperor , King of Prussia; became the first Kaiser of a united Germany...

 Tower in Berlin, Germany - a 100 feet (30.5 m) faceted glass tower composed of deep blue faceted glass. Harrison's cornerless serpentine

Serpentine shape

Serpentine refers to the curved shape of an object or design which resembles the letter s, a sine wave or a snake; the latter is the derivation of the term.- Examples :* The Serpentine River...

 shaped Hall of Science is made up of 5,400 coffers, each 2 foot (0.6096 m) wide and 3 foot (0.9144 m) tall. The Willet Studio, under Henry Lee Willet's guidance, was commissioned to construct the 5,400 panels that form the walls in less than one years time. Each panel is composed of thick chunks of blue faceted glass held together by cement. Twenty to 30 different shades of blue glass, imported from France and the Blenko Glass Company

Blenko Glass Company

Blenko Glass Company, located in Milton, West Virginia, is known for its artistic hand-blown glass.-Early history:William J. Blenko was born in London, England in 1853. He worked at a glass factory in his youth. In 1893 he emigrated to Kokomo, Indiana, in the US, where he established the first...

 of Milton, West Virginia

Milton, West Virginia

Milton is a town in Cabell County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,206 at the 2000 census.Milton is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649...

, were used in the project. The blue light, which engulfs the interior, symbolizes the heavens and carries out the theme, "Rendezvous in Space."

Metropolitan Transit Authority

Arts for Transit is a program of the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority that encourages the use of public transit by presenting visual and performing arts projects in subway and commuter rail stations. As a part of the overall project, neighborhood artists working in various media are invited to compete for projects in nearby stations. In 1998 Willet Hauser was selected to fabricate faceted stained glass panels based on the winning designs of many of these artists. The New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 transit

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

 system project is one of the largest projects in the studio's history.

Studio designers

Anthony Mako, Columcille Sharkey, Dietrich Spahn, Eric Sundean, Charles Z. Lawrence, Marguerite Gaudin, Odell "Billie" Prather, Benoit Gilsoul, Kenneth Crocker, Adam Smith, Jane Collins, and Mark Khaisman

Mark Khaisman

Mark Khaisman approaches image making as a formal exercise. Works are made on the light easel by applying layers of translucent packing tape on clear Plexiglas panels. Tape is used as the most direct way of manipulating light...

 have all worked with the studio.

Other media

Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn was a Lithuanian-born American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as The Shape of Content.-Biography:...

, Frank Shoonover, Franklin Watkins, György Kepes

György Kepes

György Kepes was a Hungarian-born painter, designer, educator and art theorist. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus in Chicago...

, Jacob Landau

Jacob Landau

Jacob Charles "Jack" Landau was an American journalist, attorney, government official, and free-speech activist. He was the founding first Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press....

, Ralph Pallen Coleman, Sadao Watanabe, Ellen Miret, David Pushkin, Max Abramovitz

Max Abramovitz

Max Abramovitz was an architect best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz.- Life :...

, Wallace Harrison

Wallace Harrison

Wallace Kirkman Harrison , was an American architect.-Career:Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center...

have worked with the studio in other media.