The Good Thing About a Glass Ceiling
Lurk behind the garment racks at the balcony railing to view Louis Comfort Tiffany’s glass-vaulted ceiling in Macy’s Chicago State Street store. Assembled from 1.6 million pieces, the design shimmers and mimics a braided texture. ⠀
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The largest mosaic of its kind, the glasswork covers 6,000 square feet for the canopy of the five-story atrium. Fifty artisans applied the iridescent art glass atop scaffolds for more than 18 months using Tiffany’s signature material, Favrile glass, which was handmade by mixing assorted colors of glass in its hot molten state. The legendary glass artist patented his process in 1894 and later won the grand prize for his Favrile glass innovation at the 1900 Paris Exposition.