8300 Wisconsin Avenue Opens Its Doors

Next door to NIH and Walter Reed Medical Center, Flats 8300 promises to become a landmark in Bethesda. For us, the project has been another great occasion to enact ornament in and for the 21st century.

The Bloomer sculpture, prominently placed, marks the entry.  Metal and masonry ornamentation integrated with the building architecture celebrate the new apartment tower and new public plaza.

8300 Flats Entry Ornament

8300 Flats Entry Ornament

Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

SLOVER LIBRARY WINS 2015 LIBRARY BUILDING AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS AND THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

From Newman Architects:”The new Slover Library in Norfolk, Virginia — designed by Newman Architects – has won a 2015 AIA/ALA Building Award. The American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association developed this award to encourage and recognize excellence in the architectural design of libraries. The AIA/ALA Building Awards recognize innovative design as leading to the library’s resurgence as a community hub.””Slover Library was conceived as the anchor of a new downtown district in Norfolk. A combined public and private endeavor, the $65 million building was made possible by a $40 million gift from Frank and Jane Batten and a $21 million contribution from the City. The project led to the creation of the Slover Foundation, which contributed an additional $4 million to the initial construction.”

Bloomerstudio designed and fabricated the metal ornament for the Forum facade, and ceiling, the ornament-sculpture for the Loggia Terrace trellis, and the frieze for the Children’s Room.

http://www.aia.org/practicing/awards/2015/library-awards/slover-library/

forum ceiling_close_ib

Metal fabricators we worked with:

Incodema of Ithaca, NY – leaf stamping, Forum ceiling
Welding Works of Madison, CT – welding, Forum ceiling
Promoco Manufacturing Co of West Haven, CT – welding, Loggia Terrace trellis
loggia IMG_6473_ms_small(photo By Michael Scott)
Thanks to JR Christoni Trucking of Walingford, CT, for handling the complex transportation  of this very large project.
Tagged | Leave a comment

The Gateway Wings at Night

The lights are on again – Alex Cooper’s lighting design, the subtle, slow-moving brush of color, brings the wings to life. Thank you, Alex, for the pictures!

5-Gateway Wings_web1

5-Gateway Wings_web3

Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Ten Reasons You Are Going to Love the New Slover Memorial Library”

It is great to discover that Norfolk is eagerly awaiting the opening of the library!

Here is the enthusiastic article from September in AltDaily by Penny Neef:

http://www.altdaily.com/features/news/7124-ten-reasons-you-are-going-to-love-the-new-slover-memorial-libraryfacade_9-2014 155

Leave a comment

Slover Library Ornament Installed

In September the Forum Facade sails, the Children’s Room frieze and the last leaves and tendrils of the Loggia trellis found their place in the Library. Kent gave an interview for The Pilot:

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/10/ornament-architecture-meet-norfolks-new-library

Loggia 9/2014

Leave a comment

East City Art: “Gateway Wings” – Urban Ornamentation for the 21st Century

Phil Hutinet, of East City Art, writes “Travelers entering Washington, DC via New York Avenue are now welcomed by “Gateway Wings,” a public art piece situated along the newly refurbished New York Avenue bridge that crosses the marshaling yards north of Union Station.
“The erection of “Gateway Wings” marks the resurgence of “ornamentation” in Washington, an architectural trend which all but disappeared in the second half of the twentieth century not only here but across the globe.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Leave a comment

New York Avenue Bridge “Gateway Wings” Installed

Bloomerstudio’s newest project, Gateway Wings, in Washington D.C.’s NOMA district, was dedicated on October 24th.

Artwork-1

Artwork
Photos by Michael Baker for the DDOT

Leave a comment

Slover Fabrication nears completion

The studio is in full production mode, fabricating facade and ceiling ornament for the Slover Library addition in Norfolk, VA.

IMG_9524 UpView1

Leave a comment

New York Avenue Bridge Gateway

Fabrication continues for the New York Avenue Bridge Gateway in Washington D.C. Here, a quick break with nearly the entire crew.

Leave a comment

Architects and Mimetic Rivalry

‘Architects and Mimetic Rivalry,’ by Rene Girard, Leon Krier, Samir Younes and Kent Bloomer is now available. The book is a collection of essays which discuss competition and quarrel among architects. Kent Bloomer discusses how rivalries among modern architects pushed ornament into the cross-hairs.

Papadakis press, 2012. Available for purchase at Amazon.

 

Leave a comment