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100 Tiffany lamps glow in the New-York Historical Society's new gallery

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100 Tiffany lamps glow in the New-York Historical Society's new gallery

The New-York Historical Society has transformed an old archive on its fourth floor into a 4,800-square-foot, two-story gallery dedicated to one hundred Tiffany lamps. The creation of the gallery was spurred by the discovery that Clara Driscoll, one of the “Tiffany Girls” (women who worked for Tiffany Studios and selected the glass fragments that went into the lamps), was a leading creative force and designed many Tiffany lamps herself. London-based Eva Jiricna Architects designed the gallery’s curving glass, as well as an all-glass stair that connects the space’s two levels. Each of the stair’s vertical supports and corresponding risers are, in fact, single pieces of glass hung in tension. The pieces were custom fabricated in Norwich, England, and feature metal connectors subtly hidden in layers of laminated glass. Georgina Papathanasiou, an associate at Eva Jiricna Architects, said the staircase was “a feat of technology in the 21st century” to match the technical achievement of Tiffany and Driscoll’s 20th-century creations. New York City–based PBDW were the architects of record.

The Gallery of Tiffany Lamps

New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West, New York
Tel: 212-873-3400
Architect: Eva Jiricna Architects


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