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Sweet Colored Glass

 

I love this “experimental greenhouse” by William Lamson, created out of steel, colored glass, sugar, and plants. Sugar? Yes, indeed. Caramelized sugar is baked into the glass at different temperatures, resulting in those rich amber variations. Now that’s what I call sweet colored glass!

Lamson wasn’t just trying to expand his color palette, though; the plants housed within receive sunlight filtered through these sugars, creating a sort of feedback loop as they in turn produce sugar through photosynthesis. Standing inside the structure, with the tinted light dancing, one’s attention is drawn to the circularity of natural processes.

 

 

I experienced this small sanctuary last year on an isolated hillside at Storm King Art Center in New York’s Hudson Valley, one of the world’s leading sculpture parks. Apparently they just reopened for the spring; highly recommended, if you get the chance to visit (though unfortunately I believe “Solarium” was part of an exhibit which is no longer on view).