BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Capitol Hill -- Hart Senate Office Building

DC -- Capitol Hill -- Hart Senate Office Building:

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[1] HART_150914_002.JPG	[2] HART_150914_010.JPG	[3] HART_150914_015.JPG
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. HART_150914_002.JPG: Mountains and Clouds by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) Painted Aluminum and steel, designed 1976, completed 1986
2. HART_150914_015.JPG: Calder Structural Safety Analysis AOC Construction Project The Architect of the Capitol is preparing to perform a structural safety analysis on the cloud components of the Mountains and Clouds sculpture. Mountains and Clouds, installed in the Hart Senate Office Building Atrium in 1985, was the last work of Alexander Calder (1898-1976), one of America's greatest twentieth-century sculptors. This sculpture, his only work with a separate mobile and stabile, consists of four organically shaped clouds hanging from a single shaft suspended from the roof. The largest cloud is 42.5' long and weighs approximately 2,000 pounds; the total weight of all four clouds is 4,300 pounds. During the project, the four clouds will be lowered to the ground and fully assessed to ensure their structural integrity, including seismic design. The project will use the existing hanging work platform for the Hart Senate Office Building roof and skylight repair project. Additional scaffolding will be erected on the Hart atrium floor to support the safety inspection and structural analysis. Work is expected to be completed in late 2015 and will ensure the sculpture can safely serve future generations of visitors and Senate staff.
3. HART_150914_022.JPG: Rendering of the Calder project staging area
4. HART_150914_023.JPG: Depiction of the clouds being lowered onto scaffolding within the staging area.
5. HART_150914_031.JPG: Empty case where the maquette was supposed to be
6. HART_150914_034.JPG: Calder's Final Triumph: Calder's skillful positioning of Mountains and Clouds in the Hart atrium contributes to the work's success. The placement cleverly integrates the sculpture into the towering asymmetrical interior of the building, both vertically and horizontally. Calder advocated simplicity in the design of this work, since the space presents a complex background of doors, windows, balconies, stairwells, and a coffered skylight. Similarly, by selecting a matte black surface for the entire composition, he created a bold contrast to the polished white marble of the surrounding interior walls. The aluminum clouds were raised first, spanning 75 feet and weighing more than two tons. The installation of the steel mountains followed, reaching a height of 51 feet and weighing 36 tons.
7. HART_150914_035.JPG: Calder intended Mountains and Clouds to be considered from multiple vantage points. Viewers can climb the mountain, in a sense, by moving up the floors. Each stage of the ascent offers different views -- indeed, different understandings -- of the mountains and clouds. As in actual mountain climbing, the distant clouds gradually become looming clouds during the ascent, until eventually the climber stands above them. Although the mobile no longer turns today, the clouds originally rotated slowly, driven by an electrical motor installed in the ceiling.
8. HART_150914_038.JPG: Alexander Calder: Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was one of the most influential and beloved American sculptors of the 20th century. Born to a family of artists, he initially chose mechanical engineering as a career before realizing his artistic calling. Calder revolutionized the art of sculpture by developing two sculptural forms in the 1930s: the "mobile" and the "stabile." The mobile -- abstract sculpture that created random designs and visual effects while in motion -- is recognized in art history as one of the most significant innovations of 20th-century sculpture. The stabile -- its fixed, freestanding counterpart -- evolved in Calder's later work into ever-larger, nearly architectural forms. The mobile and stabile eventually gave rise to new concepts in sculpture, and was a major contributor to the development of abstract art. Mountains and Clouds was Calder's last project and his only creation that combined a separate mobile and stabile in a single sculptural work. Today, Calder's sculptures enrich many public landmarks worldwide.
9. HART_150914_041.JPG: Commissioning the Sculpture: In 1975 when the Hart Senate Office Building was under construction, Alexander Calder and four other artists were invited to submit proposals to create a contemporary work for the central atrium. During the selection process, Calder submitted a sketch and maquette of the concept he called Mountains and Clouds. His innovative design was accepted. After the artist's untimely death, budgetary considerations nearly eliminated the project. However, New Jersey Senator Nicholas Brady formed a foundation that raised the necessary funds. Mountains and Clouds was finally installed in 1986, ten years after Calder's death. For more information, please visit www.senate.gov/art "To most people who look at a mobile, it's more than a series of flat objects that move. To a few, though, it may be poetry." -- Alexander Calder
10. HART_150914_044.JPG: Caring for Mountains and Clouds: Unlike real mountains and clouds, Calder's sculptural abstractions need cleaning to remove accumulating dust and debris. However, their impressive size and height present a daunting challenge. Cleaning methods have been developed through a unique partnership between high rise building cleaners and a sculpture conservator. Much of the work is done at dizzying heights from an array of lift equipment. To clean the clouds, one workers is hooked into a hang gliding harness suspended from the roof, while an assistant provides supplies from a nearby lift.
11. HART_150914_049.JPG: "By melding art with science, conservation professionals protect our heritage, preserve our legacy, and ultimately, save our treasures for generations to come." -- American Institute for Conservation The lower surfaces of the mountains require the most frequent cleaning. Similar to blackboard, the surface of the textured steel, coated with matte black paint, shows dust and marks from contact. The thin silver strip you see on the floor has been placed as a reminder that this is a work of art to be appreciated visually. Dust and marks can mar the sculpture. Cleaning requires a careful process to avoid damaging the paint or leaving streaks.
12. HART_150914_052.JPG: Alexander Calder's early sketches for Mountains and Clouds
13. HART_150914_055.JPG: Maquette for Mountains and Clouds (Sheet Metal and Wire, 1976) This small scale model, or maquette, played a significant role in the building of Mountains and Clouds. After studying a model of the Hart atrium, Alexander Calder drew a simple sketch and created this maquette. The artist planned the sculpture specifically for placement in this space. "The right work for the right place at the right time." -- Senator Nicholas Brady
14. HART_150914_058.JPG: On November 10, 1976, Calder visited Washington DC to finalize the placement of Mountains and Clouds, using this maquette. After making minor adjustments to two of the clouds, he expressed satisfaction with the maquette as positioned in a model of the atrium. That evening, after returning to New York City, Calder died of a heart attack. Foundry workers relied on the maquette to guide the building of Mountains and Clouds, since the artist did not make any scale drawings or blueprints. This maquette was reproduced full-size in as faithful a form as possible to two workshops that had fabricated some of Calder's monumental works during his lifetime.
15. HART_150914_068.JPG: 1797 Original Design of the Capitol
16. HART_150914_069.JPG: Alexander Calder's Maquette of Mountains and Clouds has been temporarily moved into storage by the AOC and the Office of the Senate Curator during the structural safety analysis. We appreciate your patience as we work to ensure the sculpture can safely serve future generations of visitors and Senate staff.
17. HART_150914_075.JPG: 1797 Original Design of the Capitol Dr. William Thornton Dr. Thornton, an amateur architect, was awarded $500 a city lot for this design. A domed rotunda based on the ancient Roman temple called the Pantheon is its central feature. The rotunda is flanked by identical wings for the Senate and the House of Representatives. The model shows how the original Capitol would have looked if Thornton's design had not been altered by later architects during construction. The principal feature of Dr. Thornton's west front design was a central circular conference room between the north and south wings. Around 1797 Thornton decided to top the conference room with a circular colonnade and dome intended as a "Temple of Fame." While the wings were built according to his design, the conference room and "Temple of Dame" were never constructed.
18. HART_150914_080.JPG: 1811 Revised Design of the Capitol Benjamin Henry Latrobe
19. HART_150914_087.JPG: 1811 Revised Design of the Capitol Benjamin Henry Latrobe After being appointed Architect of the Capitol by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803, Benjamin Henry Latrobe proposed design changes to the central section. He wished to raise the dome of a drum, lengthen the portico, and add a central flight of steps. The model illustrates how the Capitol would have appeared if the alterations shown in Latrobe's drawings had been carried out. A temple-like entrance gate flanked by residences for the doorkeepers of the House of Representations and the Senate was the principal features of Latrobe's revised design for the west front. The colonnaded central building shown in the model replaced Dr. Thornton's earlier idea for a circular conference room. Neither the entrance gate nor this design for the central section was actually built.
20. HART_150914_115.JPG: 1828 Capitol Design as Completed Charles Bulfinch
21. HART_150914_117.JPG: 1828 Capitol Design as Completed Charles Bulfinch When Charles Bulfinch was appointed Architect of the Capitol in 1818, the Capitol has been under construction for 25 years. His principal contributions to the Capitol's exterior appearance are the west central building, the wooden dome, and the landscaped grounds enclosed by an iron and stone fence. Bulfinch built the east central portico using Thornton's design as modified by Latrobe. These watercolors were painted near the end of Bulfinch's career in Washington. The model shows how the Capitol and the grounds looked from the time of their completion in 1829 until their enlargement later in the nineteenth century. The earthen and masonry terrace on the west front formed courtyards that hid privies and other necessities. The cupolas over the House and Senate wings were constructed by Bulfinch using Latrobe's post-fire designs.
22. HART_150914_130.JPG: Today The Capitol in Our Time
23. HART_150914_138.JPG: Today The Capitol in Our Time This model shows the Capitol as it is today, the centerpiece of the legislative campus. The House and Senate wings and the cast-iron dome were added between 1851 and 1866. Little change occurred in the east central front until 1958 when work began on the east front extension, a marble-faced addition containing 90 new rooms. The new construction replicated the old sandstone front and gave the iron dome a greater sense of support. The former exterior wall, now protected by the addition, may be seen in various locations throughout the east front hallways. The marble terrace, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, was built between 1884 and 1892. The west central front, the only part of the original sandstone exterior not covered by later additions, was restored in 1983-1987. In 1991-1993, the courtyards between the Capitol and the terrace were converted to meeting rooms.
24. HART_150914_158.JPG: Alexander Calder's Mountains and Clouds Structural Safety Analysis The Senate Superintendent's Office has initiated a structural analysis of the Mountains and Clouds sculpture. A qualified team of structural engineers and experts is using minimally invasive techniques -- such as visual inspection, x-rays, scoping, and laser mapping -- to assess the safety and structural integrity of the clouds, including seismic design requirements. The result will determine any repairs that may be required to rectify the safety of the clouds. The work is occurring during the off-hours to minimize the impact to the Hart Senate Office Building during the day. Work is expected to be completed in late 2015, allowing the sculpture to be safely enjoyed by future generations of visitors and staff. For more information on the sculpture, visit http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/other-sculpture/mountains-and-clouds-sculpture
25. HART_150914_171.JPG: 1976 -- Maquette Designed 1986 -- Clouds Installed 1987 -- Mountains Installed
26. HART_150914_174.JPG: 1993 -- Main Swivel Bearing Failed 2011 -- Earthquake Occurred 2014 -- Clouds Lowered
27. HART_150914_178.JPG: 2011 -- Earthquake Occurred 2014 -- Clouds Lowered Expected 2015 -- Clouds Reinstalled
28. HART_150914_181.JPG: 1976 -- Maquette Designed 1986 -- Clouds Installed 1987 -- Mountains Installed 1993 -- Main Swivel Bearing Failed 2011 -- Earthquake Occurred 2014 -- Clouds Lowered Expected 2015 -- Clouds Reinstalled Mountains and Clouds by Alexander Calder
29. HART_150914_183.JPG: You could see the clouds through the construction box
30. HART_150914_189.JPG: Time-lapse photography in progress. Please do not move.
31. HART_151203_05.JPG: The Wain Team ca. 1909 George Elmer Browne
32. HART_151203_09.JPG: George Elmer Browne From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia George Elmer Browne (1871–1946) was an American artist known in France and Massachusetts. Biography Browne was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He studied in Boston at the Cowles Art School and the Museum of Fine Arts before completing his education under Jules Lefebvre and Tony Robert-Fleury in Paris. He founded the West End School of Art at his summer home in Provincetown in 1916 at the tip of Cape Cod far away from his studio in New York. The group was influenced by the impressionists and was among five schools in the town. Browne was very well regarded in France and became a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Browne has work in Provincetown Museum. In 1919, Browne was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1928. Browne died in Provincetown.
33. HART_151203_13.JPG: 19th Annual Government, Labor & Management Award National Capital Area Council, BSA Richard J. Durbin Government Honoree May 16, 2006 The McKenzie Statue In 1914 at the request of Dr. Charles D. Hart, President of the then Philadelphia Council, Boy Scouts of America, Dr. R. Tait McKenzie created a statuette of the "Ideal Boy Scout." His model, selected in a competition of Scout parades, was 12 year old Asa Franklin Williamson Hooven. Ten bronze 18 inch-high statuettes were cast and subscribed at $100.00 each, by the friends of Scouting. The edition was closed and Dr. McKenzie presented the copyright to the Philadelphia Council. Plaster, bronze and epoxy reproductions were sold, beginning in 1916. Later smaller copies, suitable for desk ornaments, were made available and are now highly popular. In 1930 when then Philadelphia Council moved from 916 Walnut Street to its 22nd & Winter Streets location, it was hoped Dr. McKenzie would create a life size statue to stand before the new building. He obliged, not by reproducing the small figure but with a restudied one with many changes, incorporating the new Scouting insignia. Scout Douglas Shannon was the "Model in Chief" with Scout Joseph Straub in reserve, but several other Scouts also served as models for head, body and various detailed studies. The statue was unveiled June 12, 1937, Dr. McKenzie making the presentation address. Many life-sized copies are exhibited throughout the United States and in other countries around the Scouting world.
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Wikipedia Description: Hart Senate Office Building
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hart Senate Office Building, the third U.S. Senate office building, was built in the 1970s in Washington, D.C. First occupied in November 1982, the Hart Building is the largest of the Senate office buildings. It is named for Philip A. Hart, who served 18 years as a senator from Michigan.

Design and construction

Following a recommendation from George M. White (then the serving Architect of the Capitol), the plan submitted by the architectural firm of John Carl Warnecke & Associates was approved by the Senate Committee on Public Works on August 8, 1974. Construction proceeded, and the building was first occupied in November 1982.

Rather than adopt the neo-classical style of the first two office buildings, the architect gave the Hart Building a more distinctly contemporary appearance, although with a marble fa�ade in keeping with its surrounding. The architects sought to design a flexible, energy-efficient building that would accommodate both the expanded staff and the new technology of the modern Senate. The building's design also deliberately spared the adjacent Sewall-Belmont house, a historic structure that serves as headquarters for the National Woman’s Party and a museum for the woman suffrage movement. As construction proceeded, however, rapid inflation in the 1970s multiplied costs and caused several modifications of the original plan, most notably the elimination of a rooftop restaurant and a gymnasium.

Structure

The nine-story structure provides offices for forty nine senators, as well as for three committees and several subcommittees. Two-story duplex suites allow a senator’s entire office staff to work in connecting rooms. Where solid walls limited the arrangement of office space in the two older buildings, movable partitions permit reconfiguration of offices in the Hart Building to meet changing needs. Designed for modern telecommunications, removable floor panels permit the laying of telephone lines and computer cables, further aiding the rearrangement of offices as computers rapidly alter staff functions. On the building's roof, microwave satellite dishes expand senators' communication links with the news media in their home states.

The large Central Hearing Facility on the second floor of the Hart Building was designed for high-interest events attracting crowds that could not be accommodated in the regular hearing rooms. The facility offered more seating, better acoustics, and movable side panes where television cameras could operate without distracting the participants. Behind the dais where committee members sit, the Senate seal is affixed to a white and gray marble wall, which contrasts with the wood-paneled side walls. The room has become familiar to television viewers as the site of numerous Senate investigations and confirmation hearings.

Situated the farthest from the Capitol, the Hart Building was connected underground to an extension of the existing Capitol Subway to the Dirksen Senate Office Building. In 1994 a new train loop was installed that provided more cars and speedier service to handle the increased traffic between the buildings. With wider doors and trains at platform-level, the new system is also fully accessible to the handicapped. In addition, the Hart Building provides three floors of underground parking.

Atrium

Unlike other Senate office buildings arranged around courtyards, the Hart building has a 90-foot (27 m) high central atrium, which brings natural light into corridors and offices. Walkways bridge the atrium on each floor. Located on either end of the atrium are elevator banks and skylit semicircular staircases.

The centerpiece of the atrium is Alexander Calder's mobile-stabile Mountains and Clouds. The monumental piece combines black aluminum clouds suspended above black steel mountains, with the tallest peak being 51 feet (16 m) high. It was one of Calder's last works. The sculptor came to Washington on November 10, 1976 to make the final adjustments to his model, and died later that evening after returning to New York. Budget cuts delayed construction of the sculpture until 1986, when former New Jersey Senator Nicholas F. Brady raised private funds to underwrite the installation.

Anthrax attack

On October 15, 2001, several suites of this building became contaminated by the release of anthrax powder from an envelope mailed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in the 2001 anthrax attacks. The building was closed October 17, 2001, displacing hundreds of Senate staff. The building was decontaminated using chlorine gas in December 2001, and the building reopened January 23, 2002.
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