Nobu57: Part Two

As noted in this earlier post, one of our exciting projects completed over the summer was the creation of several sculptural art features at Nobu57 - the latest outpost of Chef Nobu Matsuhisa's culinary empire.

In the earlier posting, we covered the abalone shell chandeliers we made over the bar area of the restaurant.

While those were quite a feat to fabricate given the short time frame we had, even more challenging was the Sea Urchin Spine ceiling feature we made for the Private Dining area of the restaurant.

The concept of the approx. 9' x 9' ceiling was to create a sculpture, fabricated entirely from Sea Urchin Spines, that looks like the ripples formed when one casts a pebble into a pond.

In a ceiling of that size, we calculated that we would need to individually hang more than 100,000 of the spines to make the designers' vision a reality.

To learn more about the process and steps involved in creating this unique artwork, click the "Continue Reading" link below!

The first step to fabricating this unusual artwork was to create an armature for the "rippled water" form that the design was to take.  We built the armature using 3/4" plywood for flat parts, and a thinner, bendable ply for the "peaks" of the ripple waves.  When this portion was complete, it looked like we were making an innnovative new skee ball game. (Click thumbnails for enlarged views.)  We painted the urchin area blue so that if you could see through the urchin spines, you would see a color similar to the plaster finish that we applied to the rest of the ceiling.

The next step was to attach wire mesh over the forms in order to create the form of the ripple.   In order to do this, we needed to find a mesh that was strong enough to hold the form, and flexible enough to bend into the wave forms.  Also, in order to match the architect's sample, the 'grid' of the mesh needed to be 1/4".  Who knew there were so many wire mesh companies?  In order to make smoother ripples, we carved pieces of blue foam that we put over the bending ply armature to help us "find the form".  These foam forms were slid along the bending ply, and removed once we found the ripple shape we were trying to achieve.

Soon we had the whole circular shape covered with the mesh.  At the outside edge of the circle, where the mesh met what would be a plaster decorative finish, our fabricator routed a groove into the plywood for the mesh to 'die into'.

Due to the size of the piece, and the anticipated weight (once all the spines were attached) we decided that it made sense to cut the ceiling into four quadrants.  This would make it easier to work on, easier to ship, and easier to install once complete.  One additional step this necessitated was "weaving" the edges of the mesh where we cut it so that the mesh did not begin to deteriorate where our cutting had breached its integrity.

At this point, we were essentially ready to start hanging sea urchin spines.   It would have been very nice if we could put these forms on a table, allowing our talented workers to attach the spines from a more natural standing position.  But with gravity working against us, we found that the spines had to be attached as they would be when finally installed - hanging down from the mesh.

To accomplish this, we had to build "spinal stations" for each of the four quadrants.  The stations had a table where one could rest their tools, materials, or sit.  Above the table , the panel with wire mesh form was installed, and the artists would install the urchins by reaching up to hang the spine on the mesh.  Although much more difficult, this was the only way one could really judge if an area had enough "fullness".

To hang the spines we threaded a drilled hole in each urchin spine with black jewelers wire, and then threaded the wire holding the spine (like a christmas ornament) through the mesh.  We would then twist tight, and clip off the excess wire.  But before we could even start hanging the urchin spines we had to drill the holes into the spines, clean them, sort them by size, and pre-thread them with the black jeweler's wire.

With all that preliminary work, it was a great relief to finally start hanging the spines on the mesh.  Although not technically difficult, the work required an artistic eye, nimble hands, an ability to focus, patience, and speed.  We had a lot of urchins to hang!

Some days, it seemed as if the project would take forever to finish...

But bit by bit, the mesh space descreased, and the urchin coverage increased.

It helped that we could have four people at each station without crowding, and even more people if a particular area required it.

Finally, after literally hundreds of hours, we had hung more than 100,000 sea urchin spines to the mesh.  At that point, we brought the four panels up to the site, and installed them into the ceiling niche that had been built for them.  The panel installation was surprisingly quick, taking only a couple of hours.  But once the panels were installed at the site we still had a couple of final steps....To disguise the seams between the four panels we had to adjust the urchin spines, adding some, and substracting others.  Although we had already done plaster prep coats on the flat part of the panels, at the site we had to apply plaster skim coats to create a glimmering coppery/teal venetian plaster finish surrounding the urchin spines.

In the end, we were delighted to have created a truly unique and beautiful artwork for a unique and imaginative chef.

Update:  Metropolis Magazine did a cover story on the restaurant in their January, 2006 issue featuring some great new pictures of our work - it's still available on the web here.

Click photos below for enlarged views...