Christopher Gardner Art + Architecture Info Blog Client Access

Cranes in the Sky

It’s the wave of the future they say, the Potain Crane.

I had a blast photographing the delivery and erection of this Potain Crane on Chapel St. in ‘ole New Haven last week. The crane sits on a concrete pad in front of Street Hall, a second to another in front of the Swartout building. These cranes support the renovation of both buildings as part to the Yale University Art Gallery renovation and expansion that started with the Kahn building.

The crane erection was an amazing process that started at 7am with setting up the support crane (the yellow one with wheels), and finished at 4pm. Note that the crane I photographed sits low on a concrete pad and up the street the first crane is high on a box structure – so they are at different heights. This makes sense when you see at day end they test crossed the cranes. All folded up the Potain Crane stands up and unfolds all via remote control. I’ll resist a boys and toys comment, as the crane/process is actually rather elegant.

Check out the image gallery and you can see the process unfold. Click on the screen grab image.

Construction Crane Erection Gallery

Construction Crane Erection Gallery

Thanks to the kind folks at Dimeo for letting me on site. And of course Leslie the Yale Art Gallery for having out for the day.

Chris

April 23, 2010 | Comments Off  | Tags: ,

Gilead Room

A very rainy day, but it was dry inside a huge ex-Bayer building on Yale’s West Campus. This is the conservation and pre-assembly of the Gilead Room from the Young’s family house, from Gilead, Connecticut. Photographed this for a future published story on the West Campus complex. I’ll hopefully have more on that later this spring/summer.

The Art Gallery art handlers had just recently put all the main pieces together and removed cardboard that had been protecting the floor boards. You can see all the parts pre-assembly here (scroll down some, not my image so come back). The framed in room will be taken apart after some more conservation and reinstalled at the Yale Art Gallery in a year or two. The open wall sections and ceiling will be plastered in once reinstalled. Cool!

Gilead Room from above on East Side

Above on East Side

Wide view of Gilead Room

Wide View

Gilead Room higher view

Higher View

Gilead Room from South Side

South Side

Thanks to Emily, Eric, and Tom for letting me into their secluded workspace.

Chris

April 1, 2010 | Comments Off  | Tags: , ,

Bone Rocking Chair

Ooooh! Precious. I mean it.
Nothing like photographing a glass dome in someone’s living room with windows on either side. Now you can’t tell that can you! Right that’s me job. No fancy black box, high ceiling museum studio here folks.

This Bone Rocking Chair by the artist Charles LeDray was photographed for an upcoming, and then traveling, exhibition at ICA Boston. Actual object will not be in show, but my image will be used in the show catalog and publicity. Show is called “Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork”, and is at the ICA Boston, Whitney Museum of American Art, and then Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

First image here is one of my final images (made three). Middle image was emailed to me ahead of arrival. And last, granted a snapshot out of a book, the image I was improving upon, previously published.

Bone Rocker, Charles LeDray

Bone Rocker, Charles LeDray

Reflections on Glass

Reflections on Glass

Previously Published Image

Previously Published Image

Bone Rocking Chair is in the collection of Samuel R. Peterson (Connecticut), and thank you to him for allowing me into his home.

February 26, 2010 | Comments Off  | Tags:

Yale: Kroon Hall 2

Yale Alumni Magazine (Sept/Oct 2009) has story on Yale Forestry’s Kroon Hall. 5 images accompany the article. I photographed this back in the spring, but was bumped from the summer issue for space. Posted is a webgallery of all 19 Kroon Hall images made for the Yale Alumni magazine. http://www.arch-clig.com/kroonhall/

Screen Grab of Kroon Hall webgallery

Screen Grab of Kroon Hall webgallery

October 7, 2009 | Comments Off  | Tags:

In The Field

In the field, next to a river being eaten by early evening bugs. Having fun.
Finally photographing some some projects for David Thompson Architects. I think I met David at least three years ago, maybe four. Well my daughter is almost three and there weren’t any babies then so… Anyway, I’m in the field for the Barnard Environmental Magnet School. Also photographed two other sites. One of which was inside the Yale Leitner Planetarium, which is below.

September 17, 2009 | Comments Off  |

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