Rael and San Frantello still have thousands of rods left over, but depending on how big they want to go, Ashley could probably help them out again — he still has a mountain of about 700,000 of them sitting in the parking lot of his Milpitas warehouse. — NPR
Husband and wife design partners Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello have recycled parts of a "boondoggle" into a piece of architecture. Rael San Fratello Architects new(ish) project SOL Grotto uses 1,368 distinctive glass rods, from the failed solar company. The view through the rods is simultaneously kaleidoscopic and mesmeric and has become home to several insects found in the garden. The installation can currently be found at the Botanical Garden at the University of California, Berkeley.
Recently, Fox News featured Greg Gutfeld and panel criticizing how the boondoggle was turned into a "hip" , "pretentious", "art" exhibit.
3 Comments
boondoogle? what chu talkin' 'bout?
Rael, a professor of architecture at UC Berkeley, said he and his wife weren't trying to make political statement with the SOL Grotto, even if they acknowledge the name's intentional double-meaning, playing off the company's name and "S-O-L," a slang term meaning "out of luck" preceded by a vulgar word.
L-O-L
FRaC, i went ahead and put the boondoggle in air quotes, just to be more clear....
it's a nice piece, somewhat reminiscent of andrew zago's detroit pavilion: http://www.usaprojects.org/showcase/greening_of_detroit_pavilion
repetition, illumination, undulation, you can't go wrong!
in fact, one could make a comparison to the columbus circle 'living room' ( http://archinect.com/news/article/57618454/a-living-room-suspended-over-columbus-circle ) as an artistic approach of encompassing other works so as to see them in a new way, if one was so inclined.
coming soon, california's high-speed rail re-purposed as gatehouse to occupy oakland's "oscar grant plaza".
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