Client: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects
Location: Washington, DC, United States
Completion date: 2007
Artwork budget: $40,000
Project Team
Architect
Jim Shepherd
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects
Client
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
Industry Resource
Charles S. Shirk Trucking
Industry Resource
ART Research Enterprises, Inc.
Overview
ART Research worked with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects on the (4) Exhibit Plinths and the (2) Flagpole Covers. All Six were cast in Stainless Steel with a Brushed Metal Finish and were 5' x 5' square.
Goals
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum commissioned Beyer Blinder Belle Architects to collaborate with ART Research to design Stainless Steel Plinths to be installed on Stone Bollards being used as barriers in front of the Museum. The goal was to design the Plinths with objects that would represent the Air and Space Museum but also be cast in a material that would complement the stone.
Process
ART Research collaborated with Beyer Blinder Belle on designing and producing (4) Cast Stainless Steel Plinths depicting key moments in flight. (2) additional plinths were cast as flagpole covers on either side of the (4) Designed Plinths. Each design was sculpted, approved and cast through the lost wax casting process. Each Plinth had a different degree of metal finish - sandblast/wire brush thru 800 grit. Each Plinth was pacified before wax sealing and fit to a Stone Base on site and anchored down permanently.
Additional Information
ART Research was the installer of all six (6) of the Plinths.