Art & Sculpture

Restoration: “That Profile”

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Museum, Public Art, Renovation, Restoration, Sculpture Los Angeles--California Martin Puryear L 1999 /by cmorris

Note: Contemporary metal materials are known for their inherent immutability. While a number of metals can withstand many decades, it is important to consider how these materials are fabricated and installed, such that environmental concerns, galvanic corrosion, alloy selection, and other factors are properly considered and understood.

The long-term preservation of metal art and architecture is at the forefront of the research by CEO L. William Zahner. Through his role as chairman at Metalabs and his ongoing research and publications, Mr. Zahner hopes to promote the resilience of both immutable and transformative metals throughout the disciplines of art, sculpture, and architecture.

Restoring Art: That Profile, by Martin Puryear

That Profile is a forty-five foot sculpture by American artist Martin Puryear. The artwork rises into the air above the Tram Arrival Plaza at The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California. Installed in 1999, the stainless steel and bronze sculpture began showing signs of deterioration after a short time, which led administrators at The Getty to seek an expert in metal restoration.

The Getty contacted L. William Zahner, an expert in the field of metal sciences, to run tests on That Profile and determine how to restore and protect it for the future. His analysis revealed that the stainless steel “nodes” or joints which connect the linear aspects of the sculpture had weakened in the California weather. Mr. Zahner developed a two-stage cleaning process with a chemical wash and electropolishing process to revive the original stainless steel finish and add strength to the nodes.

MARTIN PURYEAR, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA; GETTY MUSEUM OF ART STAINLESS STEEL, BRONZE; 45′ X 30′ X 12′ 1999.

That Profile by Martin Puryear. Stainless steel and bronze sculpture.

Trinity Sculpture

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture, Interior Architecture Sculpture Shawnee Mission--Kansas Dierk Van Keppel Blue, Silver M 2009 /by cmorris

Interior Sculpture for Shawnee Mission Medical Center

A massive interior sculpture adorns the new atrium for Shawnee Mission Medical Center in greater Kansas City, Missouri. Zahner fabricated and installed the large-scale mobile, a metal and glass artwork conceived by Dierk Van Keppel.

The glass fixtures were cast and blown by Rock Cottage Glass, the art-glass studio of Dierk Van Keppel. Entitled Trinity Sculpture, the project was commissioned by the Shawnee Mission Medical Center. The aluminum and stainless steel by Zahner was manufactured by Zahner to encase the inset glass pieces by Keppel.

Related Project

H&R Block Installation

Zahner worked in both an art fabricator capacity, as well as a collaborator to Dierk Van Keppel. Keppel used glass blowing and fusing to create a number of fused glass pieces in flat form.

Guggenheim Canopy

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture, Exterior Architecture Museum, Public Art New York City Frank Gehry Partners Rose, Yellow M 2001 /by cmorris

Guggenheim Canopy at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim Canopy, designed by Frank Gehry Partners, is a Zahner-manufactured installation which was on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City beginning in 2001. The artwork was erected for a Frank Gehry retrospective at the Museum in May-August, 2001. In addition to providing the canopy, Zahner also manufactured a number of mirror-polish stainless steel tables for the rooftop cafe.

The canopy artwork was manufactured using a titanium skin and aluminum structure. The form was made using ZEPPS, the Zahner-patented technology for building sculptural forms. This system was used to build the aluminum structure. The titanium was then clad over the aluminum substrate using a custom flat seam system.

The titanium’s luminescent coloring was made possible by a thick layer of oxide on the metal surface. There are two distinct overlapping forms, and each is colored using a unique color of titanium-cladding made by varying the oxide thicknesses. This oxide process is called interference-coating, and can be used to create a range of iridescent colors on stainless steels and titanium surfaces.

Guggenheim Canopy during its installation at the Guggenheim in NYC.

Detail of the two color tones used on the Guggenheim Canopy.

Guggenheim Canopy during its installation.

Guggenheim Canopy at the Zahner facility in Kansas City.

Structural bones of the Guggenheim Canopy.

Gehry Sheet Metal Centennial

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Public Art Washington D.C. Frank Gehry Partners 1988 /by cmorris

Sheet Metal Craftsmanship: Progress in Building

To celebrate the centennial of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, the SMWIA commissioned Frank Gehry to create a building within a building. The exhibition was entitled, Sheet Metal Craftsmanship: Progress in Building.

Designed, conceived, and constructed in 1988, the project was one of the first projects produced by Gehry and Zahner together. Installed in the former Gen. Montgomery Meig’s Pension Building of 1883, the neoclassical structure now serves as the National Building Museum.

Frank Gehry’s design barely fits under the five-story atrium ceiling, and directly contrasts the classical columns which hold it up. The sheet metal structure rises 65-feet high in the air, which is actually cut down from Gehry’s original height by 12 feet. Gehry wanted it to “press the space, to be almost too big for the room.”

Four different sheet-metal materials — copper, polished brass, galvanized steel, and a lead and tin steel called terne plate. He uses the four tones like a painter, varying the size and direction of his brush-strokes. According to Gehry, “It’s like if you threw a bunch of objects into a can. You would still recognize them all. That’s what a city is, a collage of disparate pieces.”

Zahner engineered, fabricated and installed of this custom sculptural form inside the National Building Museum. The installation was constructed for the Summer of 1988, after which it was dismantled, repurposed and recycled.

St. Lawrence

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Worship Center Lawrence--Kansas SFS Architecture Gold S 1986 /by cmorris

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus is a church and campus serving students and the greater community of Lawrence, Kansas. Zahner provided the brass inlay for the stained glass, as well as the brass baptismal altar. Working with SFS Architecture and Kathy Barnard glass studio, the team developed a timeless worship and fellowship facility for a college town Catholic community campus.

The design team worked with Kathy Barnard to create a stained glass feature. Zahner was brought into the project to create the custom brass bar elements which curve throughout the stained glass windows. Zahner also fabricated the Baptismal Altar which was designed by Mike Shaughnessy of SFS Architecture.

St. Lawrence Catholic Center worked with SFS Architecture and the University of Kansas to establish design criteria and goals. This included the need to perceptually minimize the building’s scale to integrate with its surroundings. The building’s exterior appearance looks like a typical post-war low-rise residence, blending naturally into the neighborhood.

Related Surface

St. Lawrence

Detail of the inlaid brass used on the stained glass, custom brass altar and candle holders

Details of the custom brass baptismal altar and candle holders

Architectural interior designed by SFS Architecture

reBarn

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture, Landscape Architecture Public Art, Sculpture Muncie--Indiana Ball State University, Project One Kevin Klinger S 2009 /by cmorris

reBarn by Project One

reBarn is a multi-use sculptural form designed by Project One with the students and faculty at Ball State. Permanently installed at Westside Park in Muncie, Indiana, the installation was made using reclaimed donated barn wood and Zahner-manufactured aluminum panels and hardware. The City of Muncie commissioned the artwork in partnership with Professor Kevin Klinger’s design studio at Ball State University and the Institute for Digital Fabrication.

As part of the designer’s intent, Zahner developed a series of etched patterns into the aluminum plate. In all, five water-jet aluminum plates were cut for the outer shell and over 350 aluminum joints were cut which align the sculptures form underneath the surface.

The reBarn project is installed at Westside Park as part of the public recreation trail running along the White River.

reBarn a collaborative project by Project One / Institute of Digital Fabrication / Ball State University.

Detail of the etched aluminum patterning on reBarn sculpture.

Related System

Etched & Engraved

Etched and engraved metal processes provide a canvas of possibility for expression on plate and panel surfaces. Learn more about laser engraving and CNC engraving, as well as how laser etched and chemical etched metal systems are possible with Zahner fabrication and engineering.

Project One visited A. Zahner Company’s headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, to discuss the materials, tolerances, and processes that would be advanced in the project. Zahner assisted in the design of the connections between the wood and metal elements in reBarn.

The hardware made by Zahner controlled the form’s shape during the onsite construction and ensured a nearly seamless connection between wood and aluminum. Zahner’s unique ability to construct complex metal geometries and conceal a structure’s fabrication techniques from viewers helped Project One realize its design concept.

Tony Birchler at Zahner discusses digital fabrication with the design team.

The design team meets at Zahner in Kansas City to develop the concept.

reBarn provides a climbable multi-use sculptural form with seating and a sense of place.

Custom aluminum connections are fastened to concrete footings.

The wood and metal sculpture provides a solemn and yet playful experience.

In addition to providing a unique form, the design also was referential to its surrounding context. The design of reBarn references topographical of the adjacent river levees. Its playful form encourages a sense of place and identity for the visitors to the park.

Ball State Artworks

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Sculpture Muncie--Indiana Kevin Klinger Brown, Orange M 2006 /by cmorris

Ball State University Student Artworks

Ball State University students created a series of custom artworks which were each manufactured by Zahner in Kansas City. Professor Kevin Klinger’s immersive design studio at Ball State University in Indiana gives students first-hand experience in translating digital designs into permanent installations. The students worked directly with A. Zahner Company, learning about the collaborative process used by architecture firms working with custom manufacturers.

Related Project

reBarn

As part of the designer's intent, Zahner developed a series of etched patterns into the aluminum plate. In all, five water-jet aluminum plates were cut for the outer shell and over 350 aluminum joints were cut which align the sculptures form underneath the surface.

The students used generative processes to design perforation and folding patterns, which were applied to a sculptural ribbons of weathering steel and stainless steel. The sculptures were installed in two locations: one at the Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie, Indiana; and the other at the Indianapolis Art Center campus. In addition to these two projects, which are pictured below, a third project was completed with the students at Ball State: the reBarn project made in wood and aluminum.

Ball State artwork at the Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie, Indiana.

Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie, Indiana

Design students were able to observe the weathering steel patina develop into the protective layer of oxidation, preventing the steel from further corrosion. The second installation, at the Indianapolis Art Center, used black interference stainless steel in addition to the weather steel forms:

Diagram of the installation at Indianapolis Art Center.

Installation at the Indianapolis Art Center.

Hendrix Private Residences

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Private Art, Residential New York City Hendrix + Studio Jan Hendrix White M, S 2010 /by cmorris

Jan Hendrix Residential Art Installations

In 2010, Zahner worked with artist Jan Hendrix to craft a series of white painted aluminum screens for private residences. These aluminum screens typify Hendrix’s artistry, which can now be seen around the world. This work provides an early example of the collaborative work done with the two firms.

Multiple plates with custom tracery are cut into the aluminum. Jan Hendrix’s studio provided drawings to the Zahner team, and the aluminum artworks were then water-jet cut and fabricated with simple mounting systems. The artworks were then shipped and installed by local teams in Manhattan. These artworks represent a few of the many Hendrix Studio collaborations with Zahner. These include: Art Wall at Doha, the Hendrix Mexico Sculpture, and Patio de las Jacarandas, and many more.

Related Project

Patio de las Jacarandas

Patio de Las Jacarandas is a Jan Hendrix and Hendrix Studio-designed work of public art in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The project's metal canopy was developed and fabricated by Zahner in water-jet cut aluminum.

Installers place the large aluminum artwork by Jan Hendrix.

Detail of the waterjet-cut plate aluminum by Jan Hendrix.

Jan Hendrix designed artwork and feature wall.

Interior installation of the metal feature wall, completed in New York City.

Side detail shows the dramatic thickness of the aluminum plates.

Two layers of water-jet cut and painted aluminum plates.

Aluminum perforated plates are photographed before being shipped to New York City.

Cincinnati Tower

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Education, Monument, Sculpture Cincinnati--Ohio Machado & Silvetti Silver M 1997 /by cmorris

The Ronald F. Walker Tower at the University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati features an iconic tower designed by Machado Silvetti with Zahner-manufactured stainless steel. The monument acknowledges the contributions of the Sigma Sigma Fraternity. Machado Silvetti’s design provides an apex which represents both the University and the Sigma Sigma fraternity.

The tower has a number of symbolic aspects in its design. Its square base forms the letters U and C on alternating sides. Above these letters, the main wooden shafts rise in the form of hammers. These motifs reflect the fraternity’s motto, “The torch burns; the hammers ring.” At the top, a beam of light shines through a stylized stainless steel torch and changes colors through the use of a computer program.

Zahner was involved in various metal components, and the stainless steel perforated “flame” at the sculpture’s top. The fifty foot high permanent artwork was commissioned by The University of Cincinnati in 1998.

The tower establishes a formal entrance to the new Commons from University Avenue. As a placemark on the school’s campus, it marks a memorable place for the university community. To this end, employing a design technique of totemic origins, the design stacks varied elements that legibly symbolize the university and the fraternity. Firmly set on its cast in situ concrete base, the tower forms the university’s monogram, representing the institution’s foundational role.

Above, a shaft of dark wood, polished metal, and precast concrete convey the fraternity’s symbols, the hammer and the Greek letters — or labor and the culture of Occident. On top, a lantern of perforated stainless steel construction stands for enlightenment and knowledge, the ultimate goal of the school and its people.

Artists model of the Sigma Tower Sculpture

Related Project

Bowdoin Museum of Art

The new building entrance resembles a glass box on three sides, with the remaining portion clad in a Zahner fabricated naval brass with a custom bronze patina. The patinated metal panels continue from the exterior to the interior angled soffit, completing a dramatic entry for the museum’s 19th Century collection.

While the legibility of these symbols by those who belong to this community is important, the arcane opacity the tower produces in those who do not know or belong is equally important to us. The tower produces an effect in those who witness it — an enigmatic, strange, and perhaps even seductive effect. The shear result of form and materials and light longing to attain beauty is equally memorable.

Sport Stacks

December 16, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Kinetic Art, Public Art, Sculpture Cleveland--Ohio R.M. Fisher Silver L 1994 /by cmorris

Sport Stacks: Sculptures at Tower Park

Galvanized steel and stainless steel intertwines in this kinetic artwork made for artist Ron M. Fischer. The project was completed in 1994, and is located in Cleveland, Ohio at the Progressive Field Ballpark for the Cleveland Guardians.

The artworks are located on a pedestrian thoroughfare between the ballpark and the arena running along Ontario Street in downtown Cleveland.

Stainless steel clads the base and crowns the top of the Sport Stacks artwork. Lights are embedded into the tower structure, showing blue and gold which outline the tower’s shape. Polygonal in section, each tower has a large tapered base. The bases enclose utilities, vents, and an emergency staircase which emerges from an underground service area.

The towers contain blue and gold lights which enhance the form. The north tower is topped with a ubiquitous roof vent, which spins in the wind. On the south tower, a stationary crown tops the structure. Learn more about Zahner art fabrication for artists and collectors.