The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005

Christo and Jeanne-Claude
The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005

The 7,503 gates, 16 feet (4,87 meters) tall varied in width from 5 feet 6 inches to 18 feet (1,68 to 5,48 meters) according to the 25 different widths of walkways, on 23 miles (37 kilometers) of walkways in Central Park. Free-hanging saffron colored fabric panels, suspended from the horizontal top part of the gates, came down to approximately 7 feet (2,13 meters) above the ground. The gates were spaced at 12 foot (3,65 meter) intervals, except where low branches extended above the walkways. The gates and the fabric panels were seen from far away through the leafless branches of the trees. The work of art remained for 16 days, then the gates were removed and the materials industrially recycled.

The 5 inch (12,7 cm) square vertical and horizontal poles were extruded in 60 miles (96,5 km.) of saffron-colored vinyl. The vertical poles were secured by 15,006 narrow steel base footings, 613-837 pounds (278-380 kilograms) each, positioned on the paved surfaces. No holes were made in the ground.

The components of The Gates were fabricated off-site by seven manufacturers located on the East Coast of the USA. The weaving and sewing of the fabric panels were done in Germany.

THE PONT NEUF WRAPPED

Christo and Jeanne-Claude
THE PONT NEUF WRAPPED:
Paris 1975-85

On September 22, 1985, a group of 300 professional workers completed the temporary work of art The Pont Neuf Wrapped. They had deployed 40,876 square meters (454,178 square feet) of woven polyamide fabric, silky in appearance and golden sandstone in color.

Church of Light (Ibaraki Kasugaoka Kyokai Church)

Located in a quiet residential neighborhood in the suburbs of Osaka, the small Christian church made of silky smooth concrete sits modestly within its environment. The communal church consists of two rectangular volumes that are both cut at a 15 degree angles by freestanding concrete walls. One indirectly enters the church by slipping between the two volumes, one that contains the Sunday school and the other that contains the worship hall.

The space of the chapel is defined by light, by the strong contrast between light and shade. In the chapel light enters from behind the altar, from a cruciform cut in the concrete wall that extends vertically from floor to ceiling and horizontally from wall to wall, aligning perfectly with the joints in the concrete. From this cruciform shape an abstract and universal light seems to be floating on the concrete wall, its rays extending and receding over time with the movement of the sun. Light is also permitted to seep into the interior from the slicing of the volume by the freestanding concrete wall. The darkness of the chapel is further accentuated by the dark and rough-textured wood of the floor planks and the pews which are built out of reused wood used during construction as scaffolding.

In contrast to the darkness of the chapel the interior of the Sunday school is built of lighter colored wood with a smooth surface. The volume of the Sunday school opens up to a double height space with a mezzanine level that contains a small kitchen, bench and table which are used for congregation gatherings.

Vonnegut Dollhouse (Album)

Innovative CD packaging designed by Jeff Harrison of Rethink Communications. The designer's approach to this project was fairly simple: he built up a scale models and photographed each panels (walls), floor, and roof.

Vonnegut Dollhouse is a not main stream band behind the music and the whole dollhouse solution to album packaging is true to the name. The craft playful aspect of it can really boost up the dialect between viewer and the piece, and so, encourges people to dig deeper for more information on the band.

Tea Forté

Tea Forté from designer Peter Hewitt. A pleasant combination of geometric, organic and intimate playfulness: tall polyhedral packs, each with a playful natural-looking leaf/sprout tag. Even though, the geometric polyhedral shape violently points upward, the addition of organic sprout tag diffuse such tension and enriches it with a sense of humour. The aesthetic itself is simly tasteful and fun.