Designer & Builder: Rainbow Adobe, Alpine, TX; Steve Belardo
Millennium Moons
7.5' w. by 6.0' h. overall
Designing windows for an architectural genre that has no stained glass antecedents was a challenge. I finally got a handle on this dilemma by drawing from the distinctive graphic imagery of native American ceramics which both anticipates and influences the modern adobe house.
The nearly achromatic stained glass sidelights for the entry of the Hedges Residence do not hinder views nor compete with the rich, cool interplay of light, shadow and texture in this high desert retreat. Millennium Moons instead encourages an ongoing dialogue between the bright, arid outdoors and the hacienda’s cool, receptive interior spaces.
Except for a handful of lenses arcing across, the door was left untouched at the suggestion of the Hedges. These lenses connect the two sidelights and imply movement and passage of time appropriate to the idea of Millennium Moons (which was created as the 20th became the 21st century).
Materials: German, French and Domestic Mouthblown Glass; Machine- and Hand-rolled Glass; Dichroic Glass; Leaded and Laminated Lenses; Lead; Solder.