''Bridge Tender's House'' is a public artwork by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

artist

Mikyoung Kim Mikyoung Kim, FASLA is an American landscape architect, urban designer, and founding principal of Mikyoung Kim Design. Kim has received the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and the American Society of Landscape Architects National ...

, located on the 14th Street Bridge in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. "Bridge Tender's House" was commissioned through the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Description

Housed inside the bridge's original

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

(or

bridge tender's house A bridge tender's house is a structure near or upon a moveable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is t ...

), each of the six windows has a group of reflective, dichroic acrylic

kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

cones that feature abstract reflective floating surfaces of color and light. The bottom of each cone has a

mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...

and a light that assists in producing a reflection. Each angle produces a different

hue In color theory, hue is one of the properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that are described as ...

which emanates from the windows, visible from the bridge, the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

and the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

, but in compliance with U.S. Coast Guard regulations, not allowing it to distract drivers on land or water. Overall, the piece sends out "thousands of glimmering colors in six directions where a drawbridge once sat." The kaleidoscopes consist of panels of clear and reflective acrylic material. The reflective and dichroic panels are clipped and bolted to the masonry window sill of the structure. The acrylic was chosen due to its sturdiness as a shatterproof, heat resistant, fire retardant product that also resists sunlight fading. Three

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

illumination boxes with a central

halide In chemistry, a halide (rarely halogenide) is a binary chemical compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative (or more electropositive) than the halogen, to make a fl ...

fixture are installed with multiple fiber optic cables that serve as lighting sources for the kaleidoscopes. They are secured with

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

beams and platforms, which also serve as a rotating table for the lights.

Acquisition

The Washington D.C. Department of Transportation believed that the watchtower, which served as a lookout point for the bridge's former role as a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

(which ended in the 1960s), was an eyesore and requested the assistance of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to find an artist to create something that would enhance the space. In all, 122 artists applied for the project, a selected group of artists were brought to the watchtower to experience the space, and five finalists were selected. The submission requirements set by the

District Department of Transportation The District Department of Transportation (DDOT, stylized as d.) is an agency of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States, which manages and maintains publicly owned transportation infrastructure in the District of Colu ...

reflected concerns for driver safety: no additional extensions to the height of the tower or flashing lights were allowed, the artwork could not slow down traffic, and of course safety, low maintenance, and durability to the work of art were required. The finalists' projects were also reviewed by the U.S. Coast Guard, the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

and the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

. Eventually, Mikyoung Kim was selected as the artist for the work.

Artist

is a

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

from

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and currently serves as a professor of design at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

Concept

Kim's creation of the ''Bridge Tenders House'' was inspired by the "shimmering Potomac river" and the "fast paced movement of the train and cars". Before the installation of the artwork the watchtower underwent a major rehabilitation project. It was re-roofed, repairs to masonry and tiles took place,

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

removed, and glass was replaced.

Installation

Once the renovations to the tower were completed the artwork was installed. Once the northbound bridge deck construction was completed the piece was activated. The lights turn on starting at 4pm until midnight each night.

Conservation

The 400-watt metal halide fixture and fiber optic illuminating boxes require a bulb change every 1 to 2 years. The acrylic surfaces which face the window are cleaned with a non-abrasive cloth and a standard window cleaner. Clear

fishing line A fishing line is any flexible, high-tensile cord used in angling to tether and pull in fish, in conjunction with at least one hook. Fishing lines are usually pulled by and stored in a reel, but can also be retrieved by hand, with a fixed att ...

is placed across the openings in the surfaces to deter birds from entering the space and clear non-glare acrylic panels can be placed in front of each kaleidoscope to protect the internal space even further.

References

External links

"A Beam of Light at Night Offers a Soothing Welcome Into DC" from the DC Department of Transportation
* {{Public art in Washington, D.C., state=collapsed Public art in the United States Optical devices Potomac River Contemporary works of art