The roof, up close

The Ottawa Chinatown Royal Arch is a royal arch because it has nine roofs, symbolizing eternal life and eternal reign of the emperor. The roofs are made of glazed roof tiles, as are the many figurative elements. These will not be visible in any detail from the ground, except with a telephoto lens.

It is now one month to official unveiling of the Arch, the long building process is drawing towards its culmination.

dragon motifs along the roof peak

the detailed story lines are intriguing, complex like the medieval cathedral stuatuary in Europe

The tiles are cemented together with red mortar. Double click to enlarge any picture to see more detail.

With a human in the picture, the scale of the pieces becomes more apparent

End of a "wooden" beam is capped with a glazed figure

Silhouetted against the sky, figures journey forever

Gold confetti

As the gold foil is applied to the arch, the carrier strip of plain paper is discarded. The little strip of paper flutters away in the breeze.

Most of them flutter to land on the scaffolding underfoot. But a goodly number blow away in the breeze, leaving the downwind area lightly scattered with little strips of paper and tiny bits of gold leaf. Also shown on the scaffolding are pots of paint, solvents, tea infusions, cheesecloth, etc.

All the time I was on the Arch, one worker spent his time sweeping up the little pieces with a short broom. By time he was three quarters of his way along one side of the Arch, a fresh blizzard of paper bits was already descending onto the scaffolding behind him.

The workers draped large sheets of plastic over the area they were working in if they were on the up-wind side of the Arch, to prevent their gold foil from blowing away. Those on the down-wind side stuffed bits of cardboard in the nearby openings through the Arch to deflect the wind that funnelled through the gaps and blew away their bits of foil.

Gold Leaf

Many of the elements of the Arch are decorated in real gold. The gold is applied in a foil format (not paint). The incredibly thin sheets of gold leaf come on carier sheets of heavier parchment. The artisan uses wooden tweezers to pick up 1" x 5" strips of gold. Each larger sheet is cut on site down to the smaller 1x5 size:

Artisan holds the sheet over the area to be foiled. He then rubs the backing to transfer the gold foil to the arch:

The carrier sheet flutters away in the breeze. Notice how the gold leaf covers too much area and is not yet the final shape:

Applying the gold foil to the scroll work on a piece of (concrete) bamboo:
                 

After pressing the foil into place, the excess bits are wiped off with a piece of cheesecloth. I caught some of the bits waffing in the air, and ate them. Gold leaf (presumably in small quantities) is supposedly good for you, I learned that from a Vegas chef at a cooking lesson where we applied bits of gold leaf to our Japanese icecream deserts:

The finished scroll work. It should stay bright for about 100 years. Rain will wash over it and keep it clean:

Gold leaf sheets are available at craft and art supply stores for those who want to try this at home.

Close-up pictures, painting the Arch

August 24, 2010

Painting is still in progress, and will be finished by the end of September. Here are some pictures of the painted sections "in progress". Some sections are still getting their first coats of paint, others are multicoloured with gold leaf.

Double click on any photo to enlarge it on your monitor screen.

gold leaf applied to upper panels but not yet trimmed

supporting decorative "woodwork" with its first coats of paint but not yet gold leafed

upper part has gold leaf but not trimmed, lower section has leaf that has been trimmed and outlined in white.





more pictures tomorrow !

Royal Treasure wall art

Just a few blocks west of the Arch, this wall mural is in progress on the Royal Treasure wall at corner of LeBreton Street.

Some colour appears on the Arch

Artisans have been in Ottawa for weeks now, preparing the Arch for the final decorative finishes.

Some bits of finish are now apparent, like the red and gray near the topmost roof section:

If you peer through the green netting that wraps the site, a bright yellow panel is visible on the north side:

Some paint on the eaves of the roof section. Double click to enlarge to see details:

Other Arches - Yokohama, Japan

Shown above is the arch in Yokohama, Japan.

In Ottawa, the artisans who will paint the arch have arrived from Beijing and are applying the 13 undercoats of paint to make the cement structure smooth and ready for the four top coats of paint.

Other Arches - Philadelphia, USA

This picture of the arch in Philadelphia USA gives some idea as to what the painting will look like on the concrete arch in Ottawa.

Somerset re-opens to car traffic

July 29, 2010

On July 29 Somerset street was reopened to vehicular traffic again.

Scaffolding is still up around the Royal Arch for the use of the Chinese artisans who will soon start applying the seventeen coats of paint to the concrete work.

Sidewalks are open again too, with new concrete and inlaid bricks. The lions and dragons at the base of the columns are temporarily covered with wooden crating to protect them from damage during the remaining construction period.

Other Arches - London, England

Red River of cement

July 23, 2010, a truckload of red cement.

The square area around each the lamp post foundation is filled in with red cement.

A wood block with chinese characters is pressed into place.

Members of the BIA and fundraising community leave handprints.

The blocks have four wishes: Longevity, Prosperity, Luck, and Happiness.

Nothing like getting your hands dirty ...

Gathered fundraisers and members of the BIA.

Grace Xin, Exec.Dir. of the Somerset/Chinatown BIA photographing the group.

Sidewalks restored

Work crews have laid the curbs for the restoration of Somerset Street under the arch. The picture shows some of the sidewalk paving being installed. The granite pavers right at the foot of the arch are visible at the base of the columns, which have been crated and wrapped to protect them from construction damage.

On each side of the arch will be pedestrian-scaled light fixtures. They will be the first of the new ones that will eventually be installed throughout Chinatown. In 2011, the section from Preston up to Booth will get the new sidewalks, landscaping, and light fixtures.

The Lions and Dragons Arrive

The stone lion and dragons are installed at the base of the supporting pillars.

Preparing to install the stone paving around the base of the pillars.

Close up of lion and carved base. It is very hot and heavy work installing so much stone and concrete in plus 30 C weather.

Polished stone pavers cemented into place. With the final polishing of the pavers, the work of the Chinese artisans is almost finished. They return to China on Monday, before heading off to New Zealand for the next arch project.

Later, another cast of artisans arrive to apply 17 coats of paint to the exposed concrete parts of the arch. This will include paint with real gold in it.

Base of the arch

The four pieces of stone put in place around the pillar. Liquid cement was then injected between the stone and the concrete column to firmly affix the stone base to the columns and support it at the base.

The next step is to install stone curbs around the base of the pillar. Shown to the immediate left is the pedestal for the stone lions.

The construction project is nearing completion for the Chinese artisans. They leave in a few days for their next project, an arch in Wellington NZ.

Decorative arts painters will soon arrive from China to start applying the 17 coats of paint, including gold leaf, to the Arch.

Base of the arch

The carved stone bases for the pillars of the Arch are now being installed. Shown here is half of one base. Double click to enlarge to see the carving details.

Removing column forms

The 130 ton arch is supported by two concrete columns. During the week of July 5th, the steel forms were removed, revealing the cement inside.

The pieces of steel forms are stacked on site and then sent off to be used on another job.

Filigree panels installed

In the centre of the picture is an ornate pre-cast cement piece that is light as lace. Thinner than the surrounding concrete supports, it lets light through the arch and contributes to the ethereal thinness of the 130 ton arch.

Here is the big piece, along with several smaller sections,when they were cast two months ago on 5 May 2010.