A Whole Lot of Sparkle

When I heard that after more than eight months of design and planning, Meyda Lighting is currently building the largest free-hanging chandelier in the world, I couldn't help but be intrigued. The new chandelier is being custom crafted of steel, glass and acrylic, for a local performing arts theater. Meyda Lighting has been building the custom chandelier for the past four months in its manufacturing facilities in Yorkville, N.Y. (How very top secret!) And trust me, this thing is huge.

The lighting fixture, which is 34 ft. in diameter, 17 ft. tall in height, weighing in at 7,000 pounds. That's 3.5 tons! The fixture is assembled in eight sections of tubular steel trusses, as well as more than a dozen sections of other steel trusses, framework and decorative embellishments. Each truss features a steel arm, designed with a red glass-eyed serpent spiraling down it. At the tip of each arm is a beau bash (eight in all), each with a diameter of 36 in. and designed to hold seven candles that vary in sizes ranging up to 2 ft. in height. The candles feature blown-glass diffusers that simulate the tip of the candles’ flames, and sculpted steel candlesticks that simulate the wax drippings of candles.

According to Meyda Lighting, the bottom of each beau bash has been designed with a red and blue acrylic to coordinate with the nuances of the red and blue color scheme throughout the theater. The chandelier, which was designed to fit into the theater’s Mexican baroque Moorish theme, is hand-finished in Antique Gold and Bronze to match the interior decor of the theater.
The candlelights will be illuminated with more than 200 Medium-Base LEDs lamps. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a lot of shiny stuff...gotta love it. View the construction of the chandelier on a live Web cam shown at Meyda.com.

RetailDesignDiva hasn't snagged a photo of the completed project yet, but the one pictured here will give you an idea of the chandelier's enormity. Now just imagine it all lit up and dangling overhead--all 7,000 pounds of shimmering glory. Both beautiful and scary.

--Jessie Bove