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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

West Gable Windows!


This was the last picture I took today, hours after my first visit to the site this morning.  I made a second trip so we could see the new west gable windows.
During this morning's visit, just this blank opening greeted me.
I probably mention too often how beautiful the day was, but wow, today was beautiful.
Our friend Lee Cowan drove by the site yesterday and noticed the plastic sheet had been removed from the north gable opening.  To his amazement, a parking spot opened up, he jumped out and took five pictures, this being one of them, before the opening was covered.  You are seeing the opening in the north gable wall before the frame for the window was placed.  Through the temple are the south gable windows.  You might recall that Lee and his father, Dr. Richard Cowan, are working on a book about Provo's two temples.
Today the north gable window has the frame, which was placed with the top triangular-ish window.  The two side windows have not yet been installed.  The stainless steel flashing is visible around the frame.
These are the south gable windows, beautiful, for sure, but I really need the scaffolding to come down. 
The transom window for the south ground level entrance is being completed at the artists' studio.
The opening for the east gable window is currently a delivery entrance.  Trim and frames for interior art glass windows were delivered today.
This delivery was underway the entire time I was at the site this morning.
The pavilion was receiving plenty of attention, too.  The beautiful profile of the roof will be reflected in the interior ceiling.
Workmen took advantage of the balmy weather to complete the slate.
Three of the four corners of the roof at the steeple base appear to be finished.
Beautiful copper flashing over the south gable caught my eye.
The opening at the steeple was used by the roofers.
I checked to make sure the tower windows were still there.
The fountain is being dried out in preparation for its last pour.  It's been plumbed.
Trees have been planted in the north lot, some of which are visible from the construction cam, but I got sidetracked admiring the caps on the gate posts.  A workman's entrance is in the background.
Taking advantage of the spring-like weather, workmen pushed the snow aside and planted trees in the west lot.
Some of the trees are planted on top of geofoam, but these two new trees are actually in dirt.
The ramp was covered last week so it could dry out from our snow storms.  Today, men worked to finish the heat tubing.
This walkway stretches from the stairwell just south of the temple to Second South.  Part of it, which you can see tented, received a concrete pour this morning.
You are seeing geofoam basking in the sun, but before spring, this area close to Second South will be a small parking lot.
Workmen were everywhere.
And fortunately, before the end of the day, they finished the west gable windows.

5 comments:

JayBingham said...

Your description of the portion of the window as a 'triangular-ish window' intrigued me. I said there has got to be a name for that shape. But after a search via google for the name of a triangular shape with two curved sides and one straight side I could not find a specific name for that shape. I did find an illustration for window shapes which called the entire shape of the window a cathedral. But that could just be one company's terminology. The nearest I could come to something shaped like that with a rounded top was an arch. So perhaps this would be a pointed arch.
Of interest I learned that a triangular shape with three curved sides is called a Reuleaux triangle. This curvaceous triangle-like shape is named after the German mechanical engineer Franz Reuleaux (the name looks French but he was born in Eschweiler in Germany (at the time part of Prussia)). You often see these shapes as trail signs or guitar picks. Although technically speaking a Reuleaux triangle is a curve of constant width, and is based on an equilateral triangle. This video has an interesting discussion about shapes of constant width including the Reuleaux triangle. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cUCSSJwO3GU)

Julie Markham said...

Thank you for this comment. I actually spent quite a bit of time searching for a shape to match that window and came up with zero. I obviously was not as thorough as you were. I appreciate your help.

JayBingham said...

I also noticed that the straight edge of this section of window is above the point where the parallel sides of the window begin. That is intriguing to me. I wonder if this was done purely for aesthetics or if there is a mechanical advantage to doing that? Perhaps some of the other readers might know.

JayBingham said...

I did one more search for pointed arch and came up with this page on Wikipedia (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefreedictionary.com%2Fpointed%2Barch&ei=JxOvVIaIJoqyyQTsw4HYCQ&usg=AFQjCNGT6RNoLFiPSZgID6tblKQvilehKA&sig2=VDXKESzmhkAO6BxJa3jUEg&bvm=bv.83339334,d.aWw). Which shows that there are two types of pointed arches, one is called a Lancet arch, the other is called an Equilateral pointed arch. From this web site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture) I learned that "Lancet arches are typically defined as two-centered arches whose radii are larger than the arch's span." And for an equilateral arch "the radius is exactly the width of the opening and the centre of each arch coincides with the point from which the opposite arch springs."

Julie Markham said...

Jay, now that I've watched your video, which is so totally awesome, I wonder if we could call this shape an elongated Reuleaux triangle. I'm going to see if I can get a question to the man who made the window and see if he has a name for the shape. He likes arches a lot, so this might be more of an arch rather than a triangle. This might take awhile, so be patient. But thanks for all these fun links.