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David Franklin and Aaron Whelton’s Drift Inversion Installation in Denver’s new Sandhills Prairie Park

May 31, 2017 by David

Large scale Abstract Inverted sand dune sculpture

When I was a kid in Colorado, my family would travel almost every weekend to my grandparents’ antique shop in Silver Plume or to the family cabin in Pine. Those drives into the Rocky Mountains always took us through tunnels that marked our ascent into a different world from the plains below. That memory played a role in my choosing the pedestrian underpass in the Sand Hills Prairie Park at Denver’s Stapleton Airport as the site for this installation with my friend and co-designer, Aaron Whelton. Located in a relatively cold, windy, and unwelcoming part of the park, this tunnel seemed like the perfect setting to create an inviting, engaging space. Our challenge was to develop a concept that related to the natural history of the area.

Long before Stapleton’s runways and facilities transformed the area into a busy urban landscape, this particular corner of the Denver metro area was covered in sand dunes. They were my inspiration for “Drift Inversion,” a 23′ x 128′ installation that turns the original landscape upside-down to create a surreal experience for any visitor who happens upon the underpass.

 

Design and fabrication

In a previous post I shared some of the preliminary design renderings that Aaron and I created for the project proposal. Once those were approved, we focused on working out the endless details with the City of Denver’s engineers, my engineers at IDE, and my fabricator Kurt Nordquist at DaVinci’s Workshop.

Aaron Whelton working with two monitors
Associate Professor of Architecture at Portland State University, Aaron Whelton
technical drawings for Drift Inversion by Aaron Whelton
Technical drawings for Drift Inversion by Aaron Whelton

Each of the sculpture’s 258 aluminum “fins” is unique. To keep track of their specific locations, we assigned a number to each piece to identify its place in the length of the tunnel, and a corresponding letter to identify whether it went on the north or south side. These identifiers were added as each fin was water-jet cut, and we took great care to keep consecutive numbers in groups to make the installation process easier.

Water-jet cutting pieces of the Drift Inversion sculpture from 1/4"x 4' x 12' sheets of aluminum
Cutting fins from 1/4″ x 4′ x 12′ sheets of aluminum at DaVinci’s Workshop, Burien WA
Water-jet cut pieces of aluminum that make up the Drift Inversion sculpture
Fins after the water-jet cutting process

Once the cutting was complete, Jonathan Arreola, Juan Sanchez and Joshua Arreola, at Northwest Custom Auto Body in Burien did the painting.

Painting in progress
Painting in progress (Photo credit: Jonathan Ariola)

While Jonathan finished the painting and we readied the fins for transport to Ship/Art in Denver for warehousing, Rio Grande Co. (also in Denver) was busy gathering all the hardware and fabricating the 1,548 galvanized steel brackets we would need for the installation. In the end, the project required nearly 12,400 individual elements (nuts, bolts, washers, bushings, and other hardware) including the fins, which, by themselves, weighed nearly 16,000 pounds.

One ton of brackets and a palate of nuts and bolts and 019 feet of unistrut
One ton of brackets, a pallet of nuts and bolts, and 910 feet of Unistrut
Installation work truck
The installation work truck

Structural installation begins (despite the weather)

The pedestrian underpass that houses “Drift Inversion” provides a glorious window to the Rockies in the West and a portal for viewing incredible rainbows in the East. It also seemed to focus and intensify the weather we experienced during installation. Every kind of Colorado spring storm imaginable passed through during that two weeks: heavy snow and bitter cold, a downpour with jawbreaker-sized hail, steady rain, 80-degree days…you name it, we had it.

Work began on a frigid, windy Friday morning that evolved into a very snowy weekend. Despite the enormous challenges of working overhead in the biting cold, Mike Adcock of Adcock Concrete in Grand Junction, CO, and his helper, Alexandro, did an incredibly accurate job installing all of the structural elements that ultimately would support “Drift Inversion.”

Mike Adcock and Alexandro, from Adcock Concrete in Grand Junction, CO, install the unistrut
Mike and Alexandro installing the Unistrut with drill in anchors every 18″
My brother, Bryan Franklin, and my brother in-law, John Wilson helping Mike Adcock install the Unistrut and brackets
Unistrut and bracket installation nearly completed
Unistrut and bracket installation nearly complete

Over three days, the crew installed 1,500 brackets and nearly 1,000 feet of Unistrut.

from the left, Bryan Franklin, David Franklin, Aaron Whelton, Mike Adcock
From left: Bryan Franklin, me, Mike Adcock, and Aaron Whelton

Final assembly begins

Once all the structural elements were in place, it was up to the Franklin family and some devoted friends to install the sculpture’s 258 fins. It was a truly epic process, supported from the sidelines by many folks bearing hearty lunches and words of encouragement, including my high school friends Chris Flores and Heidi Gartland, Bruce and Tricia Gallagher, my mom, and my sister in-in law, Brooke.

The first two of 258 aluminum pieces to be installed
The first two pieces installed
Working with my brother Miles. Photo by Heidi Gartland
My brother Miles and me (Photo credit: Heidi Gartland)
Assembling Drift Inversion with Aunders Mavis
Adding another fin with Aunders Mavis
Drift Inversion in progress
The work in progress
David Franklin holding one of the Drift Inversion fins. Photo by Bryan Franklin
Just me and a fin (Photo credit: Bryan Franklin)
My Dad came to the rescue
Me and my dad, who came to the rescue

Two weeks later, after installing tons of aluminum and tightening thousands of nuts and bolts, “Drift Inversion” was complete. After two weeks of installing tons of aluminum, and tightening thousands of nuts and bolts, the project was complete.

This 23' x 128' installation is an inverted sculpture of sand dune forms. It is installed in a pedestrian underpass tunnel under Central Park Boulevard between 53rd and 54th in Denver, Colorado
The completed “Drift Inversion” installed in the pedestrian tunnel that runs under Central Park Boulevard between 53rd and 54th in Denver, CO
Panoramic view of “Drift Inversion”(photo credit: Miles Franklin)
Drift Inversion detail
“Drift Inversion” detail

 

 

Abstract photo of yellow Drift Inversion sculpture and blue sky
“Drift Inversion” (Photo credit: Miles Franklin)

A few more thanks

There were so many helping hands involved in this project. I acknowledged some people earlier in this post, but would be totally remiss if I didn’t mention the invaluable support of these folks, too: My truly amazing wife, Joanne; the quintessential art professional, Barbara Neal; Alexander Abel with Adcock Concrete; and all of the members of the Park Creek Metropolitan District Public Art Committee who made this installation possible. Thank you all!

David

Filed Under: Installations, News, Process, Public Art, sculpture Tagged With: Aaron Whelton, Aluminum, Denver, Denver Parks, Drift Inversion, dunes, metal, North Stapleton, Park Creek Metropolitan District, public art, sand dunes, Sandhills Prairie Park, sculpture, Stapleton, Whelton Architects, Whelton Architecture

New sculpture in development for Denver

March 31, 2016 by David

I am currently working with Aaron Whelton  on a new public art sculpture project for Sand Hills Prairie Park in the Forest Hills development in Stapleton.  Not far from where I grew up and went to high school, this is an amazing opportunity to get back to my home town and get to practice my craft.  What we are envisioning will transform an otherwise mundane space into something exceptional.  This is a preview of what we have in mind.

The site for the project is this pedestrian underpass in Sand Hills Prairie park with Central Park Boulevard running over it.

Pedestrian Underpass at Sand Hills Prairie Park
Pedestrian Underpass at Sand Hills Prairie Park under construction

The theme of the park is based on sand hill landscape formations that existed in the area before the building of Stapleton Airport.  The concept emerged from the idea of sand formations.  We designed a sculpture of sand dunes that will be approximately 116′ long and 23′ wide.  The model looks like this.

preliminary model for Sand Hills Prairie Park
preliminary model for Sand Hills Prairie Park

The sculpture will be hung from the ceiling of the tunnel for a very surreal effect as you move through the space.

Rendering of the Dune Sculpture from the entrance of the pedestrian underpass
Rendering of the Dune Sculpture from the entrance of the pedestrian underpass
Rendering from the opposite entrance of the Dune Sculpture concept in the pedestrian underpass
Rendering from the opposite entrance of the Dune Sculpture concept in the pedestrian underpass

Rather than decorate the entrances to the overpass we wanted to transform the space inside the tunnel itself.  The sculptural members will be painted a white to brighten the space and hopefully the whole effect will make it a destination to be experienced.

 

 

rendered view from of the sculpture Inside the Central Park Boulevard underpass
rendered view from of the sculpture Inside the Central Park Boulevard underpass

The tunnel is also oriented almost due east and west which at sunrise and sunset should allow the reflective nature of the sculpture change with the light and color at different times of the day and year.

detail of the Dune Sculpture installation
detail of the Dune Sculpture installation

We are right now finalizing the design and going through all of the steps for approval required by the various stakeholders.  Keep your fingers crossed and we should be installing in the early fall 2016.

 

David

Filed Under: Installations, News, Process, Public Art, sculpture, Uncategorized Tagged With: Denver, dunes, Forest Hills, public art network, sand dunes, Sand Hills Prairie Park, sculpture woodworking, Stapleton

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