Indigo | Zahner

Queen Anne’s Lace

October 18, 2017/in Art & Sculpture Private Art Kansas City Dierk Van Keppel, L. William Zahner Blue, Brown, Green, Indigo, Light blue, Orange, Red, Rose S 2010 /by cmorris

Queen Anne’s Lace artwork for Private Residence

Queen Anne’s Lace is an artwork made in collaboration with Dierk van Keppel for a private residence, manufactured using Zahner CNC-cut 1/2″ plate aluminum. The artwork draws inspiration from an image of the Queen Anne’s Lace flower found in the collector’s garden.

Zahner worked with Dierk Van Keppel whose studio at Rock Cottage Glass created the glass inlay for the artwork. The metal component of the piece was made in aluminum at the Zahner facility in Kansas City. The aluminum surface is processed with a GB-60 finish, providing a muted reflectivity.

Related Project

Queen Anne’s Lace

Detail of the Queen Anne's Lace artwork, showing how light can pass through the glass inlays.

Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas

June 12, 2017/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture Education Dallas--Texas Overland Partners Blue-grey, Indigo, Magenta, Violet M 2017 /by cmorris

Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center: The University of Texas at Dallas

Overland Partners designed the exterior for the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas to evoke the movement of a comet in homage to the school’s mascot. Zahner collaborated with the architect and contractor JE Dunn to develop a perforated system informed by orbital paths.

Exterior of Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center featuring Louvered ZIRA perforated panels.

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Metaphorically, this motif draws an analogy between comets, which move away from the sun but are ultimately pulled back by the gravitational force of the sun or a planet, and alumni, who graduate to pursue a new direction, but retain their attachment and loyalty to the university.

Overland PartnersArchitectat Overland Partners

Exterior of Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at night.

Perforated aluminum panels featuring the Zahner patented Louvered ZIRA™ technique wrap three sides of the building’s second story and the upper portion of the interior lobby. Circular perforated tabs in varying orientation create a pattern that captures and reflects light, creating the illusion of movement.

Detail: Zahner patented Louvered ZIRA perforated panels. Color-shifting paint by Valspar.

Each panel is coated in color-shifting paint by Valspar, lending an additional layer of ethereality to the building. The surface changes depending on one’s vantage point as well as with the varying light throughout the day. The panelized system uses the Zahner proprietary Drop & Lock™ system for easy and secure installation.

Interior aluminum panels featuring Zahner patented Louvered Zira technique.

The panel system adds interest to the building’s exte
rior and interior features while also providing shade for the building’s users. The Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center opened in September 2017 to facilitate active connections among the current student body and alumni through space for large and small-scale events.

Louvered Zira panels create shade for interior spaces.

Interior shadows cast from exterior panels

Diesel Chicago

December 30, 2016/in Exterior Architecture Flagship, Storefront Chicago--Illinois Bam Studio, Knauer Incorporated Black, Blue-grey, Grey, Indigo S 2008 /by cmorris

Diesel Concept Store on Rush Street

Façade panels for the Diesel Store in Chicago were designed by BAMDesign with Michilli Construction. The designer developed a panel layout with exposed fasteners and engaged Zahner to assist in developing a distressed surface for the store front.

The result was a unique, blackened steel patina created by the Zahner team. Hand-applied to 80 panels of 12ga galvanized steel, the custom patina architecturally conveys the look of Diesel’s distressed jeans. The custom patina was also applied in smaller scope within the project interior.

Initially dark and mottled in appearance, the exterior metalwork has naturally oxidized over time, taking on a gray tone in reaction to the urban environment.

Custom patinated galvanized steel panels with visible fasteners on the exterior of the Diesel Chicago store.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail view of the blackened steel panels on the Diesel Chicago store's facade.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

The custom patina developed for the project featured black & brown hues on galvanized steel.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Natural oxidation results in the panels developing a gray tone.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail view of the custom patina.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

The custom blackened steel patination and natural oxidation reflect the distressed look of Diesel jeans.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Detail view of the blackened steel panels, showing the effects of natural oxidation and the resulting "distressed" appearance.

PHOTO © A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Celestial Flyways

December 14, 2016/in Art & Sculpture, Landscape Architecture Kinetic Art, Public Art, Sculpture Kansas City Davison Architecture + Urban Design Laura DeAngelis Black, Blue, Indigo S 2008 /by cmorris

Star Disk and Celestial Flyways at Oppenstein Park

Celestial Flyways is a permanent interactive and kinetic artwork made through collaboration with Zahner art fabrication team. The public space includes a central piece by Laura DeAngelis entitled Star Disk, as well as a number of embedded stainless steel artworks inlayed in the concrete pavers. The artwork coincided with a complete redesign and rebuilding of Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park at 12th and Walnut in downtown Kansas City. The park was dedicated April 18, 2008 and named Celestial Flyways to celebrate the natural environment of the Kansas City area.

The artwork was developed by artist Laura DeAngelis in collaboration with Peregrine Honig with the leadership of Davison Architecture + Urban Design. The piece was commissioned by the Art in the Loop Foundation, a metropolitan organization of business and civic leaders with a continuing mission to enhance central Kansas City with public art.

Star Disk has a number of built-in features which align with the stars and sky. The stars are revealed through holes in the disks filled by acrylic lenses which are lit from below. Drawings of the mythological characters associated with the constellations are etched on to the surface of the disk. Park visitors rotate the star disk to a date and time with a motor operated by buttons on the base.

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“I wanted to shift people’s perceptions and encourage a different kind of awareness of the space, reconnecting the park to the sky directly overhead and the continuous rhythms of the natural world, which are so easy to lose sight of in the middle of the city.

Laura deAngelisArtist.at

According to Astrolabe.org, the anaphoric Star Disk in the park is very likely the largest and most accurate astronomical machine of this type ever made. The ten foot diameter disk contains the positions of 457 stars in 50 constellations.

In addition to the Star Disk, a number of inlayed birds are scattered throughout the landscape of the Celestial Flyways park, pictured below. These were CNC-cut and etched by Zahner with artist renderings of birds.

This project was a cooperative venture between the city of Kansas City and Jackson Country Parks and Recreation. It required two years of work, the talents of at least 150 people at a cost of nearly $500,000, much of which was donated.

More information can be learned about the process, history, and installation of Celestial Flyways at the Astrolabes.org website.

Waipolu Gallery

August 15, 2016/in Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture Museum, Residential Hawaii, Oahu--Hawaii Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Blue, Brown, Indigo, Red M 2009 /by cmorris

Waipolu Gallery and Studio

The Waipolu Gallery, located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, was designed by Peter Bohlin of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ). Built to house a privately-owned collection of post-World War II painting and sculpture, the structure offers a stunning setting for appreciating art.

Zahner fabricated the custom façade finished in Dirty Penny copper. The patinated surface will continue to evolve over time, much like the aging of the sculptures displayed within.

In 2010, Waipolu Gallery received the North American Copper in Architecture award in addition to several design awards for the work of BCJ architects.

Detail of the custom patina on copper panels for the Waipolu Gallery.

Panoramic photo of the Waipolu Gallery and Studio during construction

“The biggest challenge was to make this a great place – to be brilliant to the art for this client, in this place. I thrive on the challenge and the opportunity to make a great building and an extraordinary place. One of the great pleasures in architecture is to be able to reflect people with places and then — how to make things – how to shape them.”
— Peter Bohlin

The gallery’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean to the south and Diamond Head to the northeast afford views from the building itself, shown above (during construction).

Detail of the copper window framing for Waipolu Gallery during construction

Photo of the Waipolu Gallery facade during construction

Detail of the interior metalwork, fabricated by Zahner for the Waipolu Gallery.

“Malleability of the material was important due to the fact that the installation was occurring at a great distance from the fabrication shop and some shaping in the field was necessary,” said the project architect, Campie Ellis. “We also liked the idea that the building’s coloring would change over time, creating an evolving work or sculpture.”

Clyde Frazier NYC

August 15, 2016/in Interior Architecture Restaurant New York City Morphosis Black, Blue, Blue-grey, Brown, Charcoal, Gold, Green, Grey, Indigo, Light blue, Magenta, Orange, Red, Silver, Violet, White, Yellow M 2012 /by cmorris

Clyde Frazier’s Wine & Dine in New York City

Clyde Frazier’s Wine & Dine is a new construction high-end sports bar and eatery designed by Morphosis. The space features a Zahner-manufactured ceiling, made using generative design and automated fabrication.

Designed by Morphosis for NBA Champion and former New York Knicks Player Walt Clyde Frazier, this New York City restaurant expands a full city block in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. A swarm of suit jackets dominates the central corridor of Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine, a 10,000 square foot experience which mixes American and Asian cuisines.

Zahner provided the ceiling architectural feature. This ceiling is made up of custom cut and folded aluminum plates, 544 in total. The aluminum plates are printed from photographs of Mr. Frazier’s suit jackets. These parts are segmented into six unique shapes, where are placed at intervals of increasing distance. This interval placement creates the illusion that every part is unique.

Clyde Frazier's Wine & Dine in New York City.

The colors in the model categorize the panels according to breaks and sizes. Between the differing anchor placements, prints, panel sizes, and panel shapes, all 544 aluminum panels ended up being unique.

Even more complex were the ribs which held them in place. Because the panels were anchored at different angles, every drill hole had to be custom placed. Thus, each of the 69 ribs had 6 segments for a total of 463 segments, each with 3 unique faces.

3D model for Clyde Frazier's Wine and Dine.

“The transformative feature in the room, however, is suspended from the ceiling, where a 170-foot-long assemblage of colorful, patterned, flat and folded aluminum fins floats over the dining area, bar, and lounge. Morphosis found the stripes, plaids, and prints for this polychromatic sculptural reef in Frazier’s closets.

The architects photographed their contents and, working with Zahner’s metal fabricators, digitally printed images for a film adhesive applied to 544 aluminum panels of six shapes. The palette varies from blue to brown-gold to charcoal, with red painted undersides enhancing the gestalt. ‘It’s mesmerizing,’ says Frazier.” — Suzanne Stephens, Architectural Record.