Chop Stick

Visiondivision was commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art to create an innovative concession stand for the 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park.

The design is based on the universal notion that you need to sacrifice something in order to make something new. Every product is a compound of different pieces of nature, whether it is a cell phone, a car, a stone floor or a wood board; they have all been harvested in one way or another. Our project is about trying to harvest something as gently as possible so that the source of what we harvest is displayed in a pure, pedagogic and respectful way—respectful to both the source itself and to everyone visiting the building.

The raw material we selected is a 100-foot yellow poplar tree, the state tree of Indiana, known for its beauty, respectable size, and good properties as hardwood. We found a great specimen standing in a patch of forest outside of Anderson, Indiana. Our goal was to make the best out of this specific poplar tree, from taking it down and through the whole process of transforming it into a useful building that is now part of one of the finest art parks in the United States. As the project proceeded, we continued to be surprised by all of the marvelous features that where revealed in refining a tree into a building; both in the level of craftsmanship and knowledge of woodworkers and arborists, and also of the tree itself.



The tree was then transported to the park site, where it became the suspended horizontal beam of this new structure, which is almost entirely made out of the tree itself. The tree’s bark was removed to prevent it from falling on bystanders, a process that occurs naturally as the moisture content in the wood drops, causing the tree to shrink and the bark to lose its grip. Craftsmen loosen entire cylinders of bark from the trunk that are then flattened and cut into a standard shingle length. The shingles was carefully stacked and placed under pressure to avoid curling. The stacks was then kiln dried to the proper moisture content, sterilized, and kept in climate-controlled storage until they where ready for use. Bark shingles are very durable, long lasting (up to 80 years), and maintenance free.

After debarking, pieces of wood are extracted from the suspended tree and used for each of the components of the concession stand; structural support of the construction, pillars and studs for the kiosk, swings under the tree for kids, chairs and tables to be placed under the tree’s crown, from which special fixtures made out of bark pieces will hang. Many school children visit 100 Acres, and we had those kids in mind when we decided to hang swings from the tree. On a smaller scale, we explored ways to use other parts of the tree in the concession stand, including pressed leaves and flowers that were taken from the tree and that became ornaments in the front glass of the kiosk.
We also made Yellow Poplar syrup that was extracted from the bark of the tree and that will be sold in the kiosk, thus meaning that you could actually eat a part of the building.



Exterior view


Swings made by pieces of the trunk


The VD-team handing out ice cream at the opening party


The top part of the tree with tables and chairs


Chop Stick on a summer afternoon


Chop Stick branded cowboy style


From inside the kiosk


Chop Stick at night time with the lamp shades from the bark of the smaller limbs

The delicate balance act of the risk of weakening the hovering tree with taking cuts from it versus having to have a certain amount of wood to stabilize and construct the kiosk and carrying the load from the tree itself was very challenging.
Many days was spent with the structural engineer trying different types of cuts in a computer model to optimize the structure. To be able to fit all pieces that needed to be taken from the tree into the actual cuts we needed to make drawings for every single piece taken from the tree. We also needed to optimize the kiosk both in size and in its constructions since it would take a lot of weight from the hovering trunk. The kiosk got a truss frame construction with two larger pieces of wood that are right under the tree. Using the schematics from our engineers force diagram program, we concluded that the wall closer to the end of the tree was taking more load, thus we sized up the two larger pieces of wood in that specific wall. All these alterations really just made the project more beautiful since the design became more refined in terms of more balanced proportions.


Master diagram showing the concept and the process


Facades


Diagram showing the cuts and where the different pieces of wood is used

The cut down of the tree and the transportation to the IMA
Image courtesy: Donna Sink
Here is a movie and series of pictures when the tree was taken down gently from a forest outside of Anderson, Indiana and taken to the 100 Acres at The Indianapolis Museum of Arts.

http://www.artbabble.org/video/ima/making-chop-stick


The transportation to the museum

 
The tree gets lifted with crane

Chop Stick is branded and open to the public



After a year of bravery overseas in the heartland of the United States of America, Chop Stick was finally branded and opened to the public this Saturday. From now on the visitors at the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 100 Acres art park can buy beer and lighter snacks from the kiosk or just swing under the majestic trunk. More pictures from this masterpiece is coming soon, for now all we can show you is Sweden's most hard working and proud architects in front of their newly branded building.

Chop Stick In Progress

The first cuts of Chop Stick has now sucessfully been carried out and it looks like a champion.
We now also have an official date for the grand opening cermony in Indianapolis which will take place on the 16th of June, where you will find us swinging under the tree with a first class smile on our faces.

Midwest Summer Office

The team is now back in the US where they have set up a temporary office to refine the last details of Chop Stick which is scheduled to be open for public next summer.
As always you can reach them on their e-mail which they check on a daily basis.

Chop Stick

Visiondivision was commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art to create an innovative concession stand for 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, which will begin construction this summer.

The design is based on the universal notion that you need to sacrifice something in order to make something new. Every product is a compound of different pieces of nature, whether it is a cell phone, a car, a stone floor or a wood board; they have all been harvested in one way or another. Our project is about trying to harvest something as gently as possible so that the source of what we harvest is displayed in a pure, pedagogic and respectful way—respectful to both the source itself and to everyone visiting the building.

The raw material we selected is a 100-foot yellow poplar tree, the state tree of Indiana, known for its beauty, respectable size, and good properties as hardwood. We found a great specimen standing in a patch of forest outside of Anderson, Indiana. Our goal is to make the best out of this specific poplar tree, from taking it down and through the whole process of transforming it into a useful building that will be part of one of the finest art parks in the United States. As the project proceeds, we continue to be surprised by all of the magical features that are revealed in refining a tree into a building; both in the level of craftsmanship and knowledge of woodworkers and arborists, and also of the tree itself.


Master diagram

The first step is to cut down the tree, which is done when the ground is dry enough to manage a crane on the site, with special mats placed on the ground to secure the crane’s operation. A cushion of small, already chopped-down trees is created to reduce the impact of the tree’s fall and to keep the majority of its limbs intact.

The tree is then transported to the park site, where it becomes the suspended horizontal beam of this new structure, which will be almost entirely made out of the tree itself. The tree’s bark is removed to prevent it from falling on bystanders, a process that occurs naturally as the moisture content in the wood drops, causing the tree to shrink and the bark to lose its grip. Craftsmen loosen entire cylinders of bark from the trunk that are then flattened and cut into a standard shingle length. The shingles are carefully stacked and placed under pressure to avoid curling. The stacks are then kiln dried to the proper moisture content, sterilized, and kept in climate-controlled storage until they are ready for use. Bark shingles are very durable, long lasting (up to 80 years), and maintenance free.

After debarking, pieces of wood are extracted from the suspended tree and used for each of the components of the concession stand; structural support of the entire construction, pillars and studs for the kiosk, swings under the tree for kids, benches and tables to be placed under the tree’s crown, from which special fixtures made out of branches will hang. Many school children visit 100 Acres, and we had those kids in mind when we decided to hang swings from the tree.

On a smaller scale, we are exploring ways to use other parts of the tree in the concession stand, including its root system, which is separated from the tree when cut down. The roots have many edible features, such as root bark used to make tea and tonics that could be sold in the kiosk, for example. Pressed leaves and flowers taken from the tree will be ornaments in the front glass of the kiosk. There is also the possibility of extracting honey from poplar tree flowers, which could be something for sale on site. The branches that are less than five inches in diameter are cut away to prevent eventual rotting, and those can be used for details such as legs for the chairs and tables, or grinded down into sawdust for use as insulation.


The cut down of the tree and the transportation to the IMA
(Image courtesy: Donna Sink)

Here is a series of pictures from the two intense days in Indy this summer when the tree was taken down gently from a forest outside of Anderson, Indiana and taken to the 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at The Indianapolis Museum of Arts.


The fine craftsmen of Indiana conferencing before the chop down


Connecting the wires to the crane, and choping down smaller limbs


The yellow poplar tree hanging from the crane


the tree in a horizontal position


Flowers from the tree and smaller limbs are saved for later use


The back part of the tree is cut in slices for tables at the outdoor seating area


A first debarking of the tree to fit the truck


Getting the tree on the back part of the truck


The truck is finally loaded



The tree outside Anderson, Indiana, ready to roll


Truck on its way to Indianapolis on narrow roads with police escort


The tree was later debarked on the temporary studs at the 100 Acres



The crown of the debarked tree at the 100 acres ready for further refinement.

A huge thanks to our collaborators!

Curator: Lisa Freiman
Curator: Sarah Green
Local architect: Donna Sink
Engineer: Dave Steiner
Logger: Dave and Dave
IMA CEO: Max Andersson
And all the other staff of the IMA and other involved people at the Chop Stick project

Historic Preservation Commission

This video was captured from an excellent television program that came to our attention while zapping randomly through our 400+ channels in our living room while staying in Indianapolis.
Having so much channels means that some of them turned out to be quite specific, like the one that broadcasts from a hearing at the City council in Indianapolis for example, where a hardworking and upright citizen gives the speech of his life to convince the decision makers at the Historic Preservation Commission so that he could keep his aluminum clad windows that he by different reasons decided to replace from the original wooden ones.
The commission has also applied some pressure on the man to replace his front door with a more proper "French door".

Brown Bag Lunch Talk at the IMA

Tomorrow, Friday the 25th of February at 12 pm , the team will have a talk at the Indianapolis Museum of Art where they will unveil their latest projects that they were commissioned to do at the 100 Acres for the IMA; a concession stand and an off the grid restroom facility.
They will also present some of their earlier works.
So if you have a chance to drop by, you are more then welcome to do so.

Midwest Office

The team will temporarly move its office to Indianapolis for a month due to a commision from the Indianapolis Museum of Art to do a pavillion in the sculpture park "100 Acres".
The crew is now on a field trip in Chicago for a week to study Midwestern culture and building techniques.
Business will run as usual and we are available via our e-mail.