Process Posts

Creating “Raven’s Escape” for Microsoft’s new campus

It has been a great honor to work with Preston Singletary to make “Raven’s Escape” for the new Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington. Preston is a great craftsmen, collaborator and friend. His work explores native modernism, and native futurism through his studio glasswork. He explores these themes with his native funk rock and jazz fusion band KHU.ÉEX’.

The Lumiere Group approached Preston to create an outdoor installation for the new Microsoft campus. This part of the campus is designed by Berger Associates and is constructed by Skanska.

Preston and I discussed the idea of a modernist series of totems for the campus. Themes of technology, light and ideas taking flight came to mind. Preston felt that Raven filled with light would be the perfect subject for the idea.

Inspiration for “Raven’s Escape”

This totem carved many years ago for a client in Alaska became the basis for the concept. Groups of Ravens in flight above the forest thread pathways. We thought the Ravens could be modular and repeatable. They are able to be manipulated to give each Raven a unique pose. Together we designed a series of three poles, with each post having a different configuration of Ravens. The posts vary in height from 20 to 30 feet tall. The Ravens are lit from within, and are lined with cobalt blue Bullseye sheet glass.

Designing the modern Raven

In order build the Ravens I drew upon my airplane mechanic school airframe experience. I designed the interior of the birds to be like an airplane’s fuselage complete with ribs and bulkheads. Eleanor Reynolds, at RBHU engineers, helps make sure they are built to last.

Modeling Raven

A basic design led to making some chipboard laser cut parts. With these I built a scale model complete with lights.

Fabrication Begins

The metalwork is all done at Specialty Metals. They have been a great partner on public art projects. The digital modeling was completed by Alec Burney at Neon Fab Studios. Most of he machines and programs used to cut the metal for the project run on Microsoft Windows technology.

The poles that the birds will be mounted on are fabricated and installed well before the Ravens. They needed to be integrated into the groundwork on site.

Once fabricated, Specialty Metals delivers the poles to the jobsite. A crow decided to land on the pole and perform an inspection.

Assembling Raven

Each Raven’s bodies are a welded assembly. The head and wings are bolted on for access to the interior lights and cleaning. The heads are designed to be rotated to different angles providing each raven with a unique pose. The Raven’s wings are bent to a variety of angles to give the look of natural flight.

Matt Gilman of Specialty metals is a true metal artisan. He has worked on several projects for myself and Preston and did a great job of welding and managing all the parts. This task is complex due to slight variations in the different birds. Ryan Gleason, Mike Gribble, and Mason Eddy helped make the project successful on the fabrication end at Specialty Metals.

Sean Albert from Preston’s studio, a great glass artist in his own right, is alway there to help me. We worked together for the final assembly and glass installation. Lance at Glass Strategies laminated and prepared the glass for water jet cutting at Specialty Metals.

Installing “Raven’s Escape” at the Microsoft Campus

Installation day had finally come to install “Raven’s Escape.” Thanks to the planning and support from Skanska, the Lumiere Group and Microsoft the installation went almost without a hitch. As we waited for a crane to arrive, our crow friend stopped by to witness the scene.

Installation complete

The installation was a big success thanks to everyone who supported and worked on the project. It is exciting to be a part of Microsoft’s new campus. Preston and I had a great experience working with all of our partners: Microsoft, RBHU, Neon Fab Studios, Skanska, Berger Partnership, Lumiere Group, Specialty Metals, Glass Strategies, Sean Albert and Matt Gilman. Thanks to our wives Joanne Franklin and Åsa Sandlund, and our families, for all their support in exploring what’s possible with our hands and imaginations.

You can learn more about our collaborative work here and here.

David Franklin