I just completed an order for eight of my Bench #5s. The benches are at the heart of a new waterfront park at the Seafarers campus in Piney Point, Maryland. The benches are being used to solicit donations to help pay for the park. You can get a sense of the location from this “before” shot on the Seafarers website. The transformation is stunning and I am honored to have been a part of it!
Construction:
This is the kind of project that requires careful planning if I was going to deliver the benches on time. The slideshow below will give you a glimpse of the process.
The forms for the legs. The internal structure is made out of stainless steel.
The first pair of legs come out of the form on the third day. I immediately clean up the forma and cast the next pair.
I am able to begin to prepare the stretchers while I am casting the legs. The stretchers, and all of the wood, are made of Sapele. Sapele is an African hardwood that is a cousin of the Mahogany tree. The stretchers connect to the concrete legs via threaded rods that screw into coupling nuts cast in to the concrete legs.
This shot illustrates a very important principle in my work, the idea of variation. The stretchers are all line up upside down and you can see that each bench is going to be a unique composition in and of itself. At the same time the benches are all going to be similar enough that they are going to behave as a cohesive whole.
I always love the moment when a series of parts start to take on a three dimensional presence.
All of the benches are completed to the same point. Now I can take measurements for the seats and the seat back brackets. At this point I realize that I am going to have to finish the wood components in batches. I simply do not have enough room to do it all at once.
All of the stretchers are stained and finished with a marine grade varnish. The finish will be easy for the client to maintain while providing maximum protection.
The seats have been composed, shaped, sanded and finished.
I had to turn my metal shop into a temporary finishing room! This is going to get even more crowded because I still have to make the seat backs.
Each seat back is composed for a particular bench. The back is integral to refining the composition.
Now I have to turn the rest on my shop into a temporary finishing room! THis is the home stretch!
I dust off and assemble each bench. This is getting exciting!
Getting ready for the trip to Seafarers School in Piney Point MD
The last three benches have to go in the back of my truck. I love my little hydraulic lift!
I arrived at Seafarers and the maintenance crew from the school had my benches unloaded and placed before I knew it. The campus is beautiful and this new water side park is a wonderful addition.
This slideshow clearly shows the variation from one bench to the next.
By Nico Yektai -
New York based designer/maker Nico Yektai opened the doors to his Hamptons studio in 1995 after completing the MFA program at the School For American Craft at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The rigorous technical training complimented his background in Art History, which he studied, at Hobart College in Geneva NY. Yektai has synthesized this background into a singular style that has gained him national attention. Visit nicoyektai.com for more information
By Nico Yektai -