2012 Tucker Design Awards: Dynamic Dozen
Spirit of the Ocean Fountain
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Click to see restorationDesigner: Robert Ooley, AIA, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Stone Installer: Britishstone, Lakewood, Ohio
Stone Suppliers: Slippery Rock Ranch LLC and Stoneyard Building Materials, Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Santa Barbara Courthouse, a 160,000 ft² complex constructed during the late 1920s, became a California Historic Landmark in 2003, and a National Historic Landmark in 2005. The original Spirit of the Ocean Fountain, first created in 1927 by Italian sculptor Ettore Cadorin, decayed and fell apart over decades due to deterioration and neglect.
Click to enlarge photo
A new fountain would need to be replicated with the same materials and methods as the original. Finding a freestanding boulder free of cracks and fractures wasn’t easy; five blocks of Santa Barbara sandstone were cut from boulders in a nearby location. The challenge of replicating the original fountain exactly was met by using old photos and a Styrofoam™ replica, created by 3D scan and CNC milling, of the original fountain.
Artists had to mold clay and plaster to the replica, using early photos of the original fountain as their model, to correct the decayed parts of the original fountain. Using chisels with tips custom-shaped to match 1920s tools, the artist’s goal was to get as close to the original fountain as possible.
The stone was craned onto the lawn of the courthouse and a 40’ X 40’ carving studio was set up, opening the project for public viewing for the seven months of the project duration and encouraging questions and comments from viewers.
Juror Comments:
• This was a labor of love to replace and replicate the “Spirit of the Ocean” fountain. Finding and using the same materials as used in the original 1927 sculpture; using the latest technologies to insure authenticity of the stone in combination with old artisan ways and talents make this a truly, beautiful work of art and replication.
• A remarkable and noteworthy union of contemporary technology and the artist hand to recreate a treasure for the county of Santa Barbara. Sets a precedent that the jury is sure many will use in the future work.
U.S. Courthouse
Alpine, Texas
Click photo to enlargeDesigner: PageSoutherlandPage, Austin, Texas
Stone Installer: Elite Masonry Inc., Cibolo, Texas
Stone Supplier: Salado Quarry, Florence, Texas
The 38,600 ft² facility is a particular response to the unique characteristics of the region and site, including the landscape, climate and the traditions of civic building in the area, including the collection of forts and courthouses that have served since the early 1850s.
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Sun shading devices are used above most of the vulnerable windows to the east, south, and west to offer solar protection, and generous ramadas – traditional sun shelters in this region – are also employed where most effective.
The exterior of the building is made of a warm russet-colored Pecos red sandstone acquired by re-opening a quarry 50 miles from the site. The high-mass load bearing exterior walls not only provide great thermal benefit, but also assist in meeting requirements for blast resistance. A 2’-thick stone wall between the building and the street provides ram resistance for additional security. The richly textured stone walls are exposed in parts of the interior, creating a corporeal quality that adds a sense of dignity and permanence appropriate to a courts building.
Juror Comments:
• As soon as you see this building you know what you are getting. The use of stone exemplifies the climate and rugged desert landscape.
• The use of traditional west Texas stone in a humble application exemplifies the essential elements of a federal courthouse, and connects all expressed elements to this unique landscape in an inseparable way. Color, texture and technological applications unite to create an enclosure and set of finishes that bring noble but humble scale to this structure.
• A tough monument of frontier justice, the courthouse transforms formal typologies through the direct, unsparing employment of the local sandstone (quarried 50 miles from the site). This is a handsome building, which will weather well and represent the national character in an enduring way.
