Flying High
Aerial Applications Show Aluminum’s Durability and Aesthetic Value

Aluminum’s strength-to-weight ratio and its resistance to corrosion are two principal reasons for its use in a variety of large overhead applications, such as roofs, canopies, bridge decks, church steeples, domes, planetariums, and observatories. But, where its use in an aerial application is intended for decorative purposes, a third property of aluminum—its aesthetic brilliance—gives it an overall advantage that competing materials are hard pressed to match.

Hereafter are several recently completed projects that show aluminum’s “triple threat” properties to good effect.

St. George Ferry Terminal
Almost immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City—which damaged, among other things, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey rail lines—ridership on New York’s ferries almost doubled. For commuters traveling to Staten Island, the terminus at New York’s “forgotten borough” was a dark, drab, forgettable place.

By 2005 a total renovation of the St. George Ferry Terminal had been completed. Inside the main building, a 40-foot-high curtainwall with views to New York Harbor has replaced the former brick walls. Together with the addition of skylights, the building—originally constructed in 1950—has been transformed into a bright, welcoming transit depot.

The crown jewel of the building, however, is the 330-foot-long arch, which rises 80 feets at its highest point, that spans the main building. A delicately twisting sculpture designed to evoke the bridges that connect Staten Island with New York and New Jersey, the arch also functions as a gateway—providing a welcoming entrance to visitors to the island.

The arch consists of dozens of large, decorative .125”-inch-thick aluminum flat bar grilles attached to 4” by 4” tubes in the shape of a ladder, which are supported by large box columns.

The blade angle of the grilles—which were supplied by Delano, Minn.-based Industrial Louvers—was engineered to deflect sunlight and provide a visual screen both horizontally and vertically. The grilles feature all-welded construction for structural integrity and to eliminate racking or out-of-square problems during and after installation.

The sculpture is illuminated at night, providing a distinctive beacon for travelers on the all-night ferry service. Its all-metal design helped the terminal achieve LEED certification.

Tunica RiverPark
Yet another aluminum sculpture with a nautical theme is the “sail” at the Tunica RiverPark Visitors Center and Museum, on the banks of the Mississippi River.

The complex features a 300-foot-long floating dock, a 200-foot-long truss gangway connecting the dock to the shore, and the center itself—a 37,000-square-foot building dedicated to exhibits that illustrate the river’s impact on the region. All three of the structures feature metal construction.

As with the St. George Ferry Terminal, the centerpiece of the complex is its aluminum component—in this case, a multi-story, curving ornamental sail that sits astride the visitors center. The sail consists of perforated aluminum panels attached to a series of vertical trusses, which themselves are attached to a large, curved horizontal truss.

An observation platform four stories up the side of the sail provides views out across the river and to the wetlands beyond. The sail itself is visible for miles up and down the river.
Among the awards that the designers—Williamson Pounders Architects PC—earned for the project was an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Memphis Design Award of Excellence.

Density Fields
As of mid-October, an “extreme cantilever” built from aluminum tubing and polypropylene rope has hovered over the courtyard of Materials & Applications (M&A) in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. M&A is a research center dedicated to pushing “new and underused” ideas for art, landscape, and architecture into view.

The structure is an outdoor installation created by Sci-Arc professors Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu called “Density Fields.” Defying classification as either sculpture or architecture, the piece flexes with a movement that extends imaginary lines of force beyond the small courtyard, “seeming to pierce buildings and features in the neighborhood,” say its creators.

According to Oyler and Wu, the primary structural question that they are investigating via the installation of the structure is, “What makes the idea of using lines different in terms of their structural properties? The idea addresses tensile properties, thereby limiting the structural possibilities, but also allows for a more specific way of designing that exploits tensile strength.”

Oyler and Wu’s Density Fields exhibit consists of two basic materials: (1) an aluminum frame extending up from the ground and out into the space, and (2) a series of fine, tensioned cables pulling the cantilever in the opposite direction—forcing it to hover above the ground. Oyler-Wu Collaborative's goal is to negotiate the structural ideas, the programmatic needs of the space, and the desire to use basic geometries to create a rich spatial experience within the space itself.