My big fat German snowflake - Ingo Maurer comes to Fifth Avenue

Since 1984, the holiday season has been heralded by a giant snowflake over the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan, arguably one of the most important intersections in the world.

It was designed by master lighting designer Douglas Leigh, who lit up much of Times Square and the pinnacles of some on New York's greatest skyscrapers.

20 feet in diameter, it was made of steel, gold tinsel, and hundreds of 11-watt bulbs.

After Leigh died, and as the now two-decade-old snowflake deteriorated, the United States Fund for Unicef, owner of the snowflake franchise, decided to put up a snowflake for the 21st century.

Who to call on to design it?

A no-brainer, really: Ingo Maurer of Germany, widely recognized as the premier lighting designer on our blue planet.

He donated his services and Baccarat donated the crystals for this unique, priceless creation (above).

It went up this morning, and is scheduled to be turned on this coming Thursday, November 18.

Be there.

And take a few pictures and send them to me to put up here, anonymously or not, whatever you prefer.

Back to the snowflake.

It consists of an armature of 12 gleaming stainless-steel branches supporting 12,000 five-faceted prismatic Baccarat crystals and 462 LED and strobe fixtures that both "scintillate and glow."

It's 17 feet in diameter, weighs 1,433 lbs., is designed to withstand wind, rain, and ice buildup, and will hover 80 feet above the street, supported by cables anchored in the four buildings at the intersection.

Axel Schmid, one of Maurer's associates, said, "We always felt were working for NASA," so technically sophisticated is the snowflake and its lighting system.

[via David W. Dunlap and the New York Times]