reOrder: Breaking Ground

Some may have seen my post in December about my visit to a drafty construction site in Manhattan to view Situ Studio’s full-scale mock up related to the firm’s reOrder project. The mock up consisted of one of the column distorting structures that would be further developed, expanded and multiplied as part of Situ Studio’s reOrder installation opening on March 4th in the Brooklyn Museums Great Hall. Well, I am excited to report that Situ Studio has broken ground, well not ground per se but rather the relative tranquility of the Great Hall.

Situ Studio installs reOrder in the Great Hall

Situ Studio installs reOrder in the Great Hall

The space has been a hive of activity, truckloads of equipment and pre fabricated wooden and steel parts made their way into the building each labeled and numbered and sorted; as the stacks grew I quickly realized that the substructure of these forms contained a serious bit of engineering. Teams quickly began fitting the columns with collars and hoops of varying sizes skewed in a variety of positions with a complex system of chords. These underlying structures are quite beautiful within themselves and although they will obscured from view upon completion, visitors will be able to experience the project in its early stages through detailed film documentation which will be presented within the space upon its opening to the public.

Situ Studio installs reOrder in the Great Hall

Situ Studio installs reOrder in the Great Hall

While the teams working at dizzying heights begin assembling and installing the “bones” they are being swiftly followed by workers installing interior lighting and preparing fabric which has begun to be stretched and painstakingly folded over the massive structures. Despite the project’s complexity, it has began to rise with a certain grace and beauty not often seen in a hardhat area.

Rendering of reOrder

Situ Studio, Brooklyn. Rendering of reOrder

Situ Studio is a Brooklyn based architectural and fabrication firm whose reOrder project will open to the public March 4th 2011, in the Brooklyn Museum’s Grand Hall.