Some of Nick Cave’s designs – his sound suits – were turned into mosaics which now adorn the subway in Times Square. These incredibly varied and colourful, intricate mosaics were made by Franz Mayer. However, they aren’t the first mosaics in the New York transport system made by the company. Franz Mayer also realized Ann Hamilton’s (more austere) design for the World Trade Center station.
The Stiglmaier Platz has been home to the family run business, known here as Mayer’sche Hofkunst, since 1847. Franz Mayer is a stained glass design and manufacturing company.
Franz Mayer first made their name in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when they became the principal provider of stained glass to large Roman Catholic churches. Even then they operated nationally as well as internationally. In Ireland, for instance, Franz Mayer provided stained glass for at least ten of Ireland's Cathedral churches. Franz Mayer glass windows can also be found in churches in the US, Canada, England, New Zealand and Australia. Around the turn of the last century they had 655 employees, but the business endured a major slump during the 1930s and 40s when they had no more than 7 employees. During WWII all buildings on the Stiglmaierplatz were destroyed but the one by Franz Mayer. After the war, the company slowly rebuilt itself and now has about 40 employees.
The business is now run by the fifth generation with Michael Mayer and his wife Petra at the helm. In this video they both give an overview of the company’s history and you can see lots of samples of the varied work they do. Two American artists, Kathy Ruttenberg and Kiki Smith, are also on the premises and talk about the projects they are working on with Franz Mayer. (The video is in German apart from the interviews with Ruttenberg and Smith. It’s worth watching even if you have little or no German, because you are taken round the building and the workshop and see mosaicists and glass painters at work.)
Here's a recently made video in English: Art of glass