Witness a Fantastic Chihuly Glass Sculpture Installation
The artist and sculptor Dale Chihuly is renowned for creating exuberant works of glass art from the very small to the huge. His work is in museums, botanical gardens, corporate buildings, luxury hotels and even homes around the world.
You might wonder how on earth the whole notion of incorporating such a piece happens, especially in a home. In the case of the home here, as in many of the best bits of design, it was an architect and a homeowner just chatting away, talking about the project. One thing led to another, and all of a sudden, the architect said, "Let's talk to Chihuly." The owner grabbed the idea, and off they went.
See how the combination of an exceptional artist, a creative architect and an adventurous owner (with an extra half million dollars or so in the budget) can lead to something truly awesome.
If your ultimate splurge is a Chihuly masterpiece, you'll want to get started early to incorporate all that will be required. You'll also have to accept that the artist is going to be the boss, especially if it's an artist as accomplished as Dale Chihuly. Luis Jauregui, the architect for this home, says, "Chihuly takes over the process, including how the lighting will end up."
While giving up some design control was difficult for Jauregui, he knew it was the right thing to do. Not surprisingly, the Chihuly folks were hired early on for the installation of this 19-foot-long piece.
A full-size mockup of the stairway was built at the Chihuly Studio in Washington to ensure that the scale of the finished piece would be just right for the room.
Jauregui's firm did all of the home's interior design and construction, which helped in coordinating the installation, from making sure that the roof and ceiling could support the sculpture (yes, there's a lot of steel framing up there) to ensuring that the owners' children couldn't reach out and grab the piece.
The sculpture's location, in the stair hall just off the entry, was chosen for maximum impact. The piece fills the space with light and energy.
Each of the few hundred pieces was carefully hand wrapped and packaged, then shipped from the Chihuly Studio in two 18-wheelers. Once onsite, the pieces were unwrapped and prepared for installation.
A metal frame was first hung from the ceiling to support the glass pieces. Then each piece of glass was individually attached onto the frame. Everything, from the boxes the pieces were in to the pieces themselves, was labeled. This gave the two project managers from the studio the ability to manage and direct the four installers as to where each piece went. It still took these six workers from the studio about a week to assemble the entire sculpture.
No wonder, given the density of all of those glass pieces.
As the piece took shape and the workers got closer to completing the sculpture, it became clear just how special the piece is.
When the scaffolding came down, the work was secure in its new home.
The stair hall needed to be completely finished prior to the installation; it was a must that once the scaffolding came down, no workers could be around to potentially damage the glass.
Of course, that begs the question about what happens when some touch-up painting is needed.
