Natwerk Designs

What are the requirements for a sculpture studio? I mean Huge sculptures by?

square footage, what kind of furniture, what kind of lighting, what kind of view from a window in an urban area would be appropriate(Street,Building,sky,) what else can you sugesst where should be good place for it in the design center? Your opinions are fine too:) Its by Eduardo Chillida

Public Comments

1. Sculpture and the production of it first of all requires space. Without giving a specific square footage,I''ll just say the more the better. Space enough for several areas of work because sometimes there are multiple task involved in producing a work as well as more than one piece being in production at a given time.. Also for any sized work easy entry and exiting a space with material and finished work is important. For work of significant weight various means of safely moving/loading/unloading materials and the work itself are needed,chain hoist and other lifting/moving devices such a fork lifts,pallet jacks, dollies. Lighting is very essential. Both overhead and portable. As is a good,safe electrical system. However natural lighting which might be preferable isn't as needed as it might be with a painter. Good ventilation is very essential. Too many artist have suffered as a result of their work Access to water and large sinks. Areas to place materials that are to be eventually used... And for me a comfortable area to take a break from the work. To be able to sit away from the work and view it from a distance And/or to work on drawings, etc. Also purely for relaxation and socializing with visitors. And if possible,with enough space to spare, and area to photograph your work,but that's a luxury. Over the years, it is my opinion and that of friends that no matter how big the studio is,there never seems to be enough space.sometimes.
2. Well, it depends on how the artist works. Chillida's works appear to fabricated by industrial shops, which means he might be working with models or even drawings in a much smaller space than is needed to fabricate them. Marrita http://www.horsesculpture.net/studio.html makes over sized horse sculptures using full-scale clay originals from which flexible molds are pulled to make the wax for lost wax bronze castings which are assembled into the statues at the foundry. Furniture and view from a window are silly to specify. Some sculptors would certainly want a north light (no glare) but several large scale sculptors I have visited or see in videos have rooms with no windows and have their desk and easy chair tucked into corners out of the way of the work.
3. Without more specifics in your question you might need anywhere from 4000 - 10,000 square feet. You have to ask yourself some questions: will you need an overhead crane forklift loading bay drill press metal brake live in loft space how many steel tables and storage racks, power tools, grinders, clamps, air supply for airtools. How much security might you need for an urban setting? The more light the better. The more space the better. The End
4. It really depends what material you want to sculpt with. If you want to do bronze casting you obviously need space for furnaces, burnout kiln and ideally a kind of crane and it has to fulfill all the fire codes. You also need a space for welding, air tools (compressor system) and angle grinders. You need a good exhaust system. If you want to work with glass you also need a glass furnace, glory holes, annealing kilns and shelf space for finished items and you also might want a lamp working area. If somebody wants to work with fiber glass and resins you have to have a separate room with a very good exhaust system. The view of the window is irrelevant. You ideally want to locate it in an industrial zoned area, not a residential area. Making sculpture can generate a lot of noise from tools and a lot of dirt from materials. However, if you make sculpture from fabric, you might be able to do that in a room of your house.