This was just a concrete elevator shaft a few months ago... amazing how quickly they're moving with this and neighbor UC Uptown next door... Can't wait til it all opens, which appears not that far off.

nice update. man that is so...good!

That is so awesome to see.

That thing reminds me of the Jawa's Sandcrawlers that plied the desert planet Tatooine in Star Wars....

 

Tangent: Lucasfilm is actually building a Sandcrawler building in Singapore.

 

http://inhabitat.com/lucasfilms-singapore-headquarters-is-a-high-performance-sandcrawler-straight-out-of-tatooine/

I saw that when I was searching Google Images! Awesome!

"Skin" is going up on the MOCA:

 

http://24.123.243.38/index.html?size=1&mode=0

 

Note the lower right corner.

"Skin" is going up on the MOCA:

 

http://24.123.243.38/index.html?size=1&mode=0

 

Note the lower right corner.

 

I just saw that a couple of minutes ago and wondered if it was really glass ... wow, how exciting!!

I drove past the project last night, sorry for the blurry/rainy pics. I'm totally confused. The panels appear to be stainless steel, and I guess I recall reading that it would be clad in that, but I was expecting to see something more glassy/black. The building isn't going to look black from any angle with this. Would they paint stainless steel? Sorry for my stupidity on this ...

 

 

Hey Paul,

  Thanks for the pics.  About the cladding this is from the MOCA website:

Clad primarily in mirror-finish black Rimex stainless steel, the façade of the new MOCA will reflect its urban surroundings, changing in appearance with differences in light and weather. Window glazing will be tinted to assimilate with the reflective skin so that during the day the building will read as a unified volume, while at night interior lights will create a dynamic pattern on the dark surface.

My guess is that what we are seeing is the structural base the cosmetic cladding will go on.  (Just a guess)

That could be a peel off film on the black glass to protect it during install and other construction.

The webcam seems to be down; has been for the last day and a half. Maybe they're doing the secret "make the silver black" process and don't want anyone watching, lol!

Webcam is back up

 

http://24.123.243.38/index.html?size=1&mode=0

That could be a peel off film on the black glass to protect it during install and other construction.

 

I don't think it is peel off film.  I think it is just an inner layer upon which the facade will be mounted.

from the rimex site:

 

^ Could be my browser, or operating system, or even that I am looking at his from work and they might be distorting it. But all I see is a blue/gray box.

^I can't tell if this is a showdown of dry humor or not... but I think that box is the image.

yep. rimex is manufacturing the cladding. thats mirror finish black rimex stainless steel, the MOCA color. the whole building will look like that. the windows will match.

 

Another side is completely cladded--the triangular side to the right. (6 more to go?)

 

http://24.123.243.38/index.html?size=1&mode=0

 

 

^I can't tell if this is a showdown of dry humor or not... but I think that box is the image.

 

Dooh! 

Another side is completely cladded--the triangular side to the right. (6 more to go?)

 

http://24.123.243.38/index.html?size=1&mode=0

 

 

 

 

:O  beeeeeautiful!

Two more sides are cladded now.  It's halfway done -- here's the finishing the exterior before the heavy winter months!

The camera is extremely blurry now. Maybe the lens just fogged up, but I can barely see a thing.

Looks the webcam is having a technical issue, unless the whole neighborhood is currently under water.

GREAT read!

 

MOCA's Jill Snyder likes Cleveland's new art and old buildings: My Cleveland

 

http://www.cleveland.com/mycleveland/index.ssf/2011/11/jill_snyder_likes_clevelands_n.html

Pics from Wed. the 23rd ...

 

 

 

Nifty!  Thanks for all the photo updates, Paul!

I'm not a fan of the windows. Looks like a bunker. An all-glass (or mostly glass) building would be better to look out of and for passersby to look into. That could make the building more of an illuminating beacon at that street corner. Just my opinion.

^One of the facades (the one facing east, most visible when walking west on Euclid) will be all glass, so this thing should still serve as a nighttime beacon to some extent.  http://www.mocacleveland.org/newbuilding.php.  I still take your point, but I think the contrast between transparent and opaque from face to face will be kind of cool, even at night.

I agree KJP, and I'm hoping that cladding looks better when it's all up, too.

how in god's name are they putting up that building so fast. when you think of how long other projects took/are taking - perk park, euclid corridor, whatever that building is on e9/euclid, and so on (and yeah, i understand those are all very different projects with varying complexities), it's just astounding.

^One of the facades (the one facing east, most visible when walking west on Euclid) will be all glass, so this thing should still serve as a nighttime beacon to some extent.  http://www.mocacleveland.org/newbuilding.php.  I still take your point, but I think the contrast between transparent and opaque from face to face will be kind of cool, even at night.

 

Thanks. Then I'll reserve my opinion for when I see it completed. BTW that link didn't work for me.

^Doh, sorry, the period got sucked into the hypertext.  Try this: http://www.mocacleveland.org/images/ViewofEuclidatNight1.jpg

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that programmatically, art venues tend to be pretty shy about natural light, so larger expanses of glass may have been tough to accommodate.  That one glass facade will be an atrium wall and won't actually reveal any galleries.  In any case, that facade material better be pretty bad @ss... not sure this thing will work otherwise.  We discussed it upthread, but it's hard to tell from the photos if the facade pieces up there now are close to final or if the shiny obsidian stuff is yet to come.

Also, galleries need walls on which to hang art - if it's all glass then you would need lots of interior partitions.

Strap and bjk  I second the art museum architecture knowledge.

 

And I wanted to add that I think the building is a beautiful object. Time will tell, but it will have a great presence. I am extremely excited for this project, and this area!

I love that it beams accidentally create a two giant M's.  We can tell people that was by design.

I miss the MOCA web cam. It's gone from fuzzy to solid gray :(

I miss the MOCA web cam. It's gone from fuzzy to solid gray :(

 

Thats just a close up ;)

I really hope that is not the final skin. I was driving south on Ford going into Mayfield and Little Italy and this building is blinding. The brightest thing I have ever seen. It was hard to see. Could be dangerous. The new cancer center is nothing compared to this. Wow.

I really hope that is not the final skin. I was driving south on Ford going into Mayfield and Little Italy and this building is blinding. The brightest thing I have ever seen. It was hard to see. Could be dangerous. The new cancer center is nothing compared to this. Wow.

 

No, the more I see it, I'm sure that this has to be some sort of underlayer that they are going to put the black/glassy skin over. It looks nothing like the renderings (colorwise) as it is.

Could it possibly be just a temporary skin to keep the building weather tight during the winter.  What's the use of the glass if you have a non-transparent base layer?  I understand that MOCA may not be too keen on a lot of natural light into the gallery, it seem like that would have been handled with tinting.  I think it is temporary for the winter so that the interior build out can continue.

No, the more I see it, I'm sure that this has to be some sort of underlayer that they are going to put the black/glassy skin over. It looks nothing like the renderings (colorwise) as it is.

 

I hope so. I was hoping for a big black sapphire jewel plopped down at the corner of Mayfield and Euclid. I think that would be damn cool.

then no worries thats exactly what it is supposed to be and by all we can tell will be in the daytime. a big black 2001 space odyssey type object. could only be an art museum + should be quite a sight esp in that setting.

 

even with what we hav still having a bit of trouble imagining it in the nightime tho -- with lights on inside. and with snow on it? we'll see, but no doubt it will be interesting.

Did anyone take the December 2nd hard hat tour put on by AIA Cleveland ?  Could use some interior intel on this project..  :-)

 

 

Could it possibly be just a temporary skin to keep the building weather tight during the winter.  What's the use of the glass if you have a non-transparent base layer?  I understand that MOCA may not be too keen on a lot of natural light into the gallery, it seem like that would have been handled with tinting.  I think it is temporary for the winter so that the interior build out can continue.

 

it's not temporary, its the sublayer. the shiny black rimex metal will be applied over top of this. It is not a glass building... it is an almost entirely shiny black metal building that has some windows cut into it.

The cam is up and working again.  :-)

The cam is up and working again.  :-)

 

So all UrbanOhioans can jump on that page and jam up the webcam again with our need for urbo-porn!

The MOCA is now completely cladded on the 7 sides to what we assume is the first layer.

 

The only part uncovered is the last section that we presume will be glass.

So when are we going to see the final coating?  Yes, for this particular structure I've been rooting for fairly black.  Ultra-sophisticated. The digital clock I got from MOMA in NY, with black, shiny glass and purple LCD numbers reminds me of the design I've been expecting for this edifice. Litts' first articles describing the final design said they had ruled out bronze due to cost and were going for the black.  So can hardly wait to see it.