OMA, Park Grove Condos, Miami, featuring Calder’s Flamingo, 1973. The work is actually installed in Federal Plaza in Chicago. Image Courtesy of OMA
This article was originally published by The Architect's Newspaper as “Rendering LOL: How architects are absurdly using Calder sculptures.”
Why do so many architects use Alexander Calder sculptures in their renderings, even when the works have nothing to do with the institution or project depicted? The Calder Foundation has been tracking this phenomenon, and the results are featured in the images for this article.
A new exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York explores mobiles—kinetic sculptures in which carefully balanced components reveal their own unique systems of movement—created by American sculptor Alexander Calder from 1930 until 1968, eight years before his death.
Ateliers Jean Nouvel, 53 W. 53rd Street, New York, featuring Calder’s Sumac, 1961. It is part of a Private Collection. Image Courtesy of Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Running through October 23, the exhibition features almost 40 sculptures, including three that served as models for possible architectural commissions. In addition, Alexander S C Rower, who is the sculptor’s grandson and head of the Calder Foundation, will bring one of three motorized maquettes Calder created as proposals for the 1939 New York World’s Fair to the Whitney later this summer for a temporary viewing and activation.
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Middle East Media Headquarters, featuring Calder’s La Grande vitesse, 1969. The monumental sculpture this model is based on is actually installed in Calder Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Image Courtesy of BIG
Other Calder works on display that were designed for architectural projects include Octopus and The Helices, both made in 1944 as part of a series of bronze works Calder envisioned as 40-foot monuments and created for an International Style architectural project proposed by Wallace K Harrison.
Interestingly, more recently, many well-established architects have used Calder’s works to illustrate renderings of their own designs, often without the Calder Foundation’s permission.
OMA, OLIN, 11th Street Bridge Park, Washington, D.C., featuring Calder’s Flamingo, 1973. The work is actually installed in Federal Plaza in Chicago. Image Courtesy of OMA
OMA in particular apparently finds Calder’s sculptures perfect for its projects: It used his 1973 Crinkly with a Red Disc, actually in the collection of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, in Germany, in its rendering of the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow. The rendering for the firm’s Park Grove condos in Miami pilfered Calder’s 1973 Flamingo, which actually sits in Federal Plaza in Chicago, while the rendering for 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, DC, by OMA and OLIN, features the same sculpture.
Ateliers Jean Nouvel, R4 Plastic and Visual Arts Portal, Paris, featuring Calder’s Flamingo, 1973. The work is actually installed in Federal Plaza in Chicago. Image Courtesy of Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Other architectural firms that favor Calder’s works in their renderings include Ateliers Jean Nouvel, whose 53 W 53rd Street project in Manhattan features Calder’s 1961 Sumac, actually in a private collection. Shigeru Ban Architects used Calder’s 1971 The Eagle, now at the Seattle Art Museum, and his 1972 Trepied rouge et noir in renderings for, respectively, the Tainan Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan and Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport in Japan. Renzo Piano Building Workshop (which designed The Whitney’s current home in Manhattan’s meatpacking district), Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SOM, and Studio Libeskind also find the display of Calder’s works an attractive way to promote their concepts.
Renzo Piano Building Workshop, 565 Broome Street Soho Tower, New York, featuring Calder’s Black Tail Crescent, 1959. It is part of a Private Collection. Image Courtesy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Calder’s works reside today in some major venues: In addition to the sculptures in Federal Plaza in Chicago and at the Seattle Art Museum, the home of his Five Swords is Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, NY.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), Godrej BKC, Mumbai, featuring Calder’s La Grande vitesse, 1969 (The monumental sculpture this model is based on is actually installed in Calder Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan). Image Courtesy of SOM
Asked about contemporary architects’ practice of borrowing—to put it politely—images of Calder’s works to illustrate their designs, Rower said that during the artist’s lifetime, Calder was friendly with Mies van der Rohe, Josep Lluís Sert, Le Corbusier, Marcel Breuer and Wallace K Harrison, and “frenemies” with Frank Lloyd Wright. As the first artist commissioned to make a public sculpture by the General Services Administration, he said Calder was “the obvious go-to for architects designing new buildings or plazas. Given this history, it comes as no surprise to me that, even today, he is the most prolific artist depicted in architectural renderings. His iconic vocabulary is instantly recognizable; thus, contemporary architects use his imagery to suggest the superior qualities of their projects.”
Flamingo, 1973, installed at the Federal Center Plaza, Chicago. Image © Samuel Ludwig
“The genius of Calder’s work,” Rower added, “is that it transforms space—and our experience of it—in real time. While his great invention, the mobile, does this in an overt way—performing in front of us and literally embodying movement—Calder’s stabiles (stationary sculptures) imply movement and affect how we encounter surrounding plazas, facades or even natural landscapes. Architects intuitively understand that effect, and are excited by the prospect of how a Calder sculpture can deepen the experience of whatever space they are designing.”
Studio Libeskind, Mizner on the Green, Boca Raton, featuring Calder’s Five Swords, 1976. In the collection of the Calder Foundation; the work is actually installed at Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY. Image Courtesy of Studio Libeskind
“As long as it’s done in a respectful way,” Rower admitted that rendering actual Calder works that have not been manipulated “is gratifying. I’m interested in Calder’s works in architectural mock-ups—allowing me to imagine his sculptures in many different settings and contexts. And it’s rewarding that Calder remains a favorite amongst architects.”