** MEET AT 10AM AT THE ADMISSIONS DESK (map here)**

We’re excited to announce our upcoming members-only tour of the iconic Great Hall at the New York Hall of Science! Join us on Sunday, December 9th at 10am for a tour with conservator, James Marston Fitch fellow, and HP alum Laura Buchner. She’ll outline the history of the Great Hall, provide an overview of dalle de verre and her research on the material, and explain the interior and exterior restoration of the dalle de verre and cast-in-place concrete facade.

One of New York City’s signature spaces, the Great Hall is NYSCI’s original exhibition gallery, constructed for the 1964–65 World’s Fair. Designed by Wallace K. Harrison, the Great Hall has undulating walls composed of dalle de verre (also known as faceted glass) that rise 90-feet tall. In 2015, a major restoration of the Great Hall was completed by Ennead Architects, with Building Conservation Associates acting as the conservation consultants throughout the exterior and interior restoration, developing restoration treatments through extensive field and laboratory testing.

Laura Buchner, senior conservator at BCA, was recently awarded the 2018 James Marston Fitch Mid-Career Fellowship for her proposal “The Luminous Dalle de Verre of Gabriel Loire: The Fabrication, Deterioration, and Conservation of Faceted Glass.” She was involved in work on the Great Hall from 2005 throughout 2015. In 2017, she was involved in the study of Harrison’s other famous dalle de verre facade at the First Presbyterian Church in Stamford, Connecticut.