Three Saros, James Turrell

SITU Fabrication served as the specialty consultant for engineering and fabrication for this demanding and complex art installation within an office building in midtown Manhattan.

Artist

James Turrell

Client

Private

Architects

SheltonMindel

A+I

Contractor

Reidy Contracting Group

Location

New York, NY

Completion

2015

Photography

© Michael Moran/OTTO, SITU

Collaborators

Art in Construction, Laufs Engineering Design

Working closely with James Turrell’s design team and the project architects, we developed an innovative method for making each unique panel and seamlessly assembling the piece. In line with the rigorous concept of the artist, this Ganzfeld project creates a fully-immersive and architectural experience of color.

Our role began with a question: what is the best approach to construction given the multitude of teams, the complexity of the site, the technical tools at hand and the artist’s vision?

We began by conducting a number of formal and material studies to refine the means and efficiency of our approach, teaming up with Laufs Engineering for structural design and Art in Construction for the GFRG fabrication of the interior. These iterations informed our 3D model of the piece, which served as a critical tool for overseeing how the various components of the sculpture came together.

Beyond managing the construction process and project team, our in-house fabrication team created the solid surface exterior cladding, all molds for GFRG production and any templates and precision mounting brackets required for collaborators.