Weathering—especially the deposition of metal oxides onto stone or concrete—is a detail of particular interest to me. It’s probably often an unintended situation but it’s one that reveals material interactions, age, and construction. Below are some projects that explore these ideas.
Metal Patina on Ceramic Pieces
Black clay vase bound with copper wire oxidized with acid
Compote with copper rods oxidized with acid
Tie Box, 6”x6.5”
Lidded Jars, 3.75”x4.25” & 3.5”x2.5”
Norris Dam Visitor Experience
This project involved the design of three structures in the vicinity of the Norris Dam at Lake Norris, Tennessee. The structures—an observation tower, a swimming area, and a boat launch—were designed in relationship with the major infrastructure interventions in the landscape.
A detail pulled directly from the dam’s construction was its contraction joints between the different pours of concrete lifts. The joints were filled with a copper strip and grout at the horizontal joints. This created a series of horizontal bands where minerals and oxidation were deposited over the years.
This detail—the expression of weathering and time due to materiality and construction—was used in the design of the observation tower. Small trenches were inscribed into the floors at each level to direct water out at a vertical slot along the front of the structure. The trenches, lined with copper, would encourage its oxidation to be deposited down the face of the tower, aggregating and changing over time.
Similarly, at the boat launch, bronze rods span across the concrete pavilions. The greenish-blue oxidation of the bronze was intended to stain the concrete where the rods insert into the massive concrete beams.
Go here for more on this project.