Email #66 - Auditorium Update

If you've been on the one of the tours of Architecture Hall, you may remember that I do NOT take you up a little ladder to access the platform scaffolding at the ceiling of the auditorium. "Too difficult" with so many people, I say. Instead you'll have to look at the pictures.

So as promised, here are some more pictures taken last week. The top view is what you would see looking EAST from the top of the forbidden ladder. The other two views are looking WEST with the south wall on the left.

All the HVAC up here has been installed (not seen in these photos), and now they're getting ready to rebuild the perimeter of the ceiling to its original condition. The steel framing for the rebuilt ceiling is shown in all three photos, but I like the middle one best for showing the new framing structure, which was hard to shoot in the cramped conditions. Also, this was the only corner of the ceiling that had good lighting. This middle photo is a "straight shot" with only a tweak of Photoshop. Not so for the other two photos.

The top & bottom photos are not realistic in how the light seemed to the eye (very very dark) because they were taken using the digital HDR technique. I'm finding that HDR can create some beautiful effects, and its great for documentation under extreme lighting conditions. But it can also create a false sense of natural lighting that simply did not exist when the picture was taken. That is especially true of the top photo.

The original ceiling lamps that had been stored up here since last summer have been taken off site to be cleaned and refurbished. Later they will be reinstalled. I'll keep you posted.

John Stamets
Jan. 22, 2007