Rivers Monument Build

Client / Project:
MARIANNE NICOLSON
RIVERS MONUMENT - build
Location: Vancouver International Airport (YVR) - Vancouver BC Canada
Project Design & Management: Charles Gabriel Glassworks

The Project:
Artist, Marianne Nicolson commissions Charles Gabriel
Glassworks to design and build a pair of vertical
glass columns representing the Columbia and
Fraser rivers. The glass will include carved
designs specific to the indigenous history of
each waterway. These sculptures will be 22’
high and topped with a 4’ wood carving. The
columns will be cylindrical and taper from a
base diameter of five feet, to a top diameter of
three foot six inches. The site architects, in
consultation with Marianne, will design a
pedestal/water-feature base, and suspended
domed ceiling to frame the works.
The Plan:
To represent the waterways, the glass will have a
coloured tint, and a smooth curved surface. The
sculptures will be semi-transparent with an
innocuous support structure to help maintain the
illusion of water. The design will be engineered
to meet seismic and building standards for
installation into a public space.
The following pages present a pictoral
chronology of how CGG brought Marianne’s
vision to life.
(Please refer to the final two pages of this PDF
for more info on The River’s Monument
including Marianne’s artist statement )
(Marianne’s proposal sketch)
Charles Gabriel Glassworks – project design & management

As this sculpture would be unlike any other
contemporary artpiece, it had to be
designed entirely from the ground up.
First, we would require some hard
samples to even begin mapping an
aesthetic direction in which to go.
Here, Marianne creates artwork for test glass.

½ scale sample panels are fabricated to
help determine:
-The colour combination of laminate that
will best convey the intent of the sculpture
-Whether the artwork will be etched,
carved, textured, on the interior or exterior,
or require any post-blast treatment
-Whether the artwork will be executed as
positive/negative imagery or vice-versa
-The effect that different lighting solutions
will have on each of these considerations.

The design developed to minimize attention to the support system: clear glass fins attached to a central steel column would hold the curved panels.
To allow for side-to-side movement, this design ensured that the curved glass load sat above, and not on, the edges of the concrete plinth, below.

An early idea was to use a fibre-optic light source attached to the vertical
center support, masked with a curved diffuser layer. Following trials, this
idea was shelved in favour of using an array of dedicated spots in the
base, each directed to a specific level of the carved glass.

Lighting Tests:
With a light source in a fixed position, a test panel is set along a plane using the same pitch
as the tapered face, at distances reflective of the four carved levels in the final sculpture.
This helps determine both the light source and location, and whether to carve the interior or
exterior surface of the glass.
Cutaway for lighting artwork: interior Cutaway for lighting artwork: exterior

Originally, lighting was going to be accessed through a small panel, so there had to be a way to reach all the components. The idea developed into
having some type of tray that would swing out to service the fixtures, and then close behind a stainless cover. To help incorporate this additional
aesthetic element into the work, Marianne would add meaningful text, as she has done on many of her previous works.

Eventually, the lighting access panel developed into a full extension drawer. Once opened, this provided access to service the luminaires from
outside the structure, and created an opening large enough to reach mechanical within the well space. The use of glass fronts streamlined
the whole aesthetic, and the addition of an opaque layer in the laminates prevented a direct line of sight to the LED lights.

The height of the access panel glass was determined by calculating the sightline of an adult at the closest distance to the sculpture. The glass
below this line would be opaque. To block the view of a luminaire on the far side of the sculpture, a black opaque vinyl would be added up
to the same height on the internal fin glass. Interestingly, although this achieved the desired effect when applied, there was some element
of visual depth lost to the whole base area, so it was uninstalled and the sculpture became more intriguing as a result. One of many
surprises of bringing a concept into the real world…

Charles Gabriel Glassworks – Project Design & Management
The test panels find a new life with a finished base…

Original plans were to support the curves using spider fittings, as shown in our mockup above.
But, as these were developed primarily for flat glass, we designed our own and had them
fabricated, locally. The result was better suited hardware with a much cleaner aesthetic.

Marianne Nicolson – Rivers Monument
Final design from Charles Gabriel Glassworks
Once the final annotated designs
receive approval from the
architects, they are submitted to
the structural steel engineer,
who will model the structure and
determine the correct steel
gauge. The glass engineer then
models the loads on the
proposed hardware and
structural glass. After these
elements have been successfully
mapped, the steel fabricators
then use the measurements to
create CAD shop drawings to
build from. CAD templates for
building the glass sections will
also be created.

To ensure Marianne’s artwork would fit exactly to the finished sculpture, a1/3 scale model is built. The hard surface includes markings for the panel
divisions and hardware locations. By wrapping paper around this she is able to map her designs accurately at a workable scale.

Marianne’s drawings are digitally translated into vector images.
A CAD grid of the glass is also created, aligned with the artwork,
and separated into discreet panel sections ready for sizing and
plotting as the carving templates for each section of glass.

The Western Red Cedar, chosen months ago and stored to dry, begins to be shaped into Marianne’s eagles.

Although the rough shape is achieved using a chainsaw,
the detail that follows is done using traditional hand tools

A box jig ensures the 12” threaded mounting rods go in at 90° to the base

Marianne completes the carving and paintwork of her eagles.
Photo: M Nicolson

The custom fabricated hardware components arrive and are assembled.

There are three different hardware configurations.

Steel fabrication begins for the support columns.

The base of the steel support columns will fasten to threaded anchor rods which have been installed onsite.

Drawer assemblies for the lighting are attached to the steel supports. The outer steel ring supports the front edge of the drawer slides,
and also helps ensure the channels for the fin glass stay in alignment during transport and installation.

Completed steel support columns are painted and
delivered to site. To minimize their presence, we chose this
colour as the least noticeable when viewed through the
tinted glass.

When completed, each structure will weigh approximately 3000lbs, and from floor level to the top of the birds, stand almost 30’ high.

Using the new hardware, templates are installed onsite to
confirm the sizing for the fin glass, and to test fit the
theoretical radius dimensions for the curved panels.

To create the curved glass, full size mock up models are built utilizing the
hardware. These are necessary to make templates, check cut sizes of the
bent glass, and test fit the final polished panels for gap accuracy.

The mated curved glass pairs are sent for lamination. The laminate setup process is done by hand. The glass “sandwich” is then
vacuum-bagged and rolled into the autoclave where heat and pressure melts the laminate interlayers and bonds the two panes.

The laminated panels now require edge polishing.
Since all the curved panels are tapered, no two
edges share the same radius. An adjustable jig is
built and set to the unique position required for
each panel edge.

Adjustable cradles secure the curved panels as they
are prepped for carving.
The precut resist template is applied to the inner
surface. The rest of the glass is also protected
prior to blasting.

An angled blastlight helps ensure the carving is deep enough to create edges that the sculpture’s internal lighting will emphasize.

Marianne has chosen the finish
to be bumpy and non-uniform as
a reference to the indigenous
pictographs historically found on
rock near the rivers.

As the design on each section is unique, completed panels are numbered and readied for delivery to site.

Installation begins with the fin glass and hardware being
aligned exactly. Accurate placement of these
components is critical to ensure uniform spacing of both
the vertical and horizontal divisions between the curved
panels that follow. Although these tolerances are within
millimeters, the design does allow for the adjustment at
this stage to achieve the proper end result.

Since the design of this build is atypical, the installers’ experience working with curved panels helps minimize the difficulties not found with a
standard flat glass installation. Here, they discuss with Charles how best to maintain a uniform space between the curved panels.

As the last large curve is installed, the silhouette of the
sculpture begins to take shape. Now the panels need to be
adjusted incrementally at every joint to equalize the spacing,
and then set with silicone behind the hardware caps to
cement them in these final positions.

The luminaires are mounted in sequence to the slide out trays and wired to the controllers.

Eagles bear witness...

Illuminated by the lights below, and
before the tops are closed in, the
underside of the steel caps, including
the eagle mounting nuts, are painted a
matte black to dull their reflectivity.

The opaque glass drawer fronts are attached to brackets on the slide-out trays.

The hardware caps hold the trays in their closed position.

Marianne is watched by the eagles…

The position and intensity of each luminaire is set. By being
aimed at, and highlighting, the carved artwork, the internal
support structure appears to melt away – helping to give the
curved glass the appearance of a floating water-like surface.

The lights come on..!
Spot lighting for the eagles is still to come.

posers

Charles Gabriel Glassworks ©2015
CGG wishes to thank the following people for their invaluable contributions:
(in no particular order)
Brian Edmunds, Tibor Kiss, Renae Bendixsen, Tom Coralan, Bill Lee, Trevor Whitney, Andrew Seeton,
Gary Berkeley, Ken Wallace, Andrew Sergenor, Peter Steunenberg, John Van Roon, Grant Bain, Kevin Wilson,
Dave Walley, John Livingston, Lee Glasgow, Ken Roepe, Cecelia Einerson, Rita Beiks, Dwight Koss,
Nancy Stern, Tracy Nihei, & all the teams that worked with them.
Proposal sketch on page 2 & Completed Eagles photo page 17: M Nicolson
All other photos, text, drawings, & page arrangement (up to here): C Gabriel
Artist / vision - Marianne Nicolson
Project design / development / coordination - Charles Gabriel
Charles Gabriel Glassworks
3910 Blenkinsop Rd, Victoria BC CANADA
www.gabrielglassworks.com 250 881 5440

BACKGROUNDER
A-B Connector’s Art Piece
The Rivers Monument, Marianne Nicolson, 2015
The Rivers Monument is the newest addition to Vancouver International Airport’s art collection.
The new A-B Connector builds on YVR’s award winning sense of place – highlighting the best of
British Columbia. Vancouver Airport Authority requested proposals for a signature art piece that
would be at the heart of the A-B Connector upgrade and would fit with the architectural theme
of the Interior of BC and the Mighty Fraser River. YVR was impressed with Marianne Nicolson’s
proposal and vision as well as her modern interpretation. With the A-B Connector officially
open, Nicolson’s art piece, The Rivers Monument, is now on display.
Marianne Nicolson’s description of her work:
This work references the power and abundance of river systems. In particular it is a
monument to the Columbia River and Fraser River which carried a wealth of many
ancient names from the Indigenous Nations that fished and managed them. In the last
200 years, since contact with Western Europeans, the management and demographics
of these river systems have dramatically changed. The Pacific Coast fish runs have
radically declined due to the Columbia River being dammed 14 times. Tragically, in 1957,
Celilo Falls, the longest continuously inhabited site in North America, situated near the
mouth of the Columbia River, was submerged by the construction of the Dalles Dam.
Lost along with this invaluable fishing site were thousands of pictographs that told the
story of ancient abundance and Indigenous presence.
This work seeks to symbolically bring back to the surface these submerged histories. It
is created to honour Indigenous presence in the land and the stewardship of river
systems and the wealth they provide. It acts as a metaphor for the relationship of the
Indigenous Peoples to modern North American society.
(continued next page)

The artwork self-consciously combines modern mediums with ancient petroglyphs and
the iconic “totem poles” of the Pacific Northwest Coast in order to reverse relationships
of industrialization and commercialization which have tended to be oppressive to
Indigenous Peoples and the lands and resources they have relied on. It also
appropriates the use of electric power and light to help “illuminate” a story where the
methods used to meet the need for this modern technology has had tragic results both
for the Columbia River and the Indigenous People who rely on it.
Each pole is a cut through of the river system with the top of the column representing
the surface and the bottom of the column the riverbed. The Fraser River pole is topped
by fishermen casting a net made of fish. On the Columbia River Pole the fishermen have
been replaced by uniformed men who hold onto a net where the fish have been replaced
by dams. Inside the net on the Fraser are represented a barking dog, flowers, a
thunderbird and stars, adaptations of real images found alongside the Fraser River.
Inside the net on the Columbia are represented a mountain goat, human face, skulls and
broken arrows. On the side of the Fraser River pole is a powerful woman figure and on
the side of the Columbia River pole is an owl; commonly believed amongst coastal
indigenous peoples to represent the souls of men. This image is the only direct copy of
one of the images that was cut out of the rocks at Celilo Falls in order to preserve it
before the flooding. Resting on the river beds (bottom) of each pole is a sisi’utl or
(supernatural fish) represented by a human face with two serpents heads. Between the
horns of the sisi’utl on the Fraser River Pole is a bear and on its opposite side a
mountain goat. Both are flanked by birds. Between the horns on the sisi’utl on the
Columbia River Pole is depicted a Thunderbird and on its opposite side the “spirit of the
river” who holds a fishing harpoon. Between them is depicted the souls of lost
fishermen. Perched at the top of both poles are carved cedar eagles who serve as
witnesses.
Marianne Nicolson is of the Dzawada'enuxw Tribe of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nations. She holds a
Masters in Fine Arts and a PhD in Linguistics and Anthropology from the University of
Victoria. Marianne is heavily engaged in the cultural and political revitalization of Indigenous
Peoples though artwork and social activism.
-YVR-
For more information:
YVR Media Relations
604-880-9815
Media_relations@yvr.ca
www.yvr.ca Twitter: @yvrairport

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