On Tuesday, June 4, a 62,000 square foot mural -- equal to the size of one and a half football fields was unfurled, covering the entire Fifth Avenue face of the iconic Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
The giant architectural rendering – printed on mesh fabric and attached to the construction scaffolding– will suggest what the building will eventually look like once its exterior restoration is complete.
This gigantic image is not just another advertising banner on a tall building; To maintain proper perspective and scale, the entire facade was hand-drawn and then digitally printed by perhaps the only company in America that could: Britten Banners is among the largest banner companies in the nation and its founder Paul Britten is a practicing architect.
Britten brought to life each building detail by hand, based on blueprints and photographs provided by The Plaza’s Restoration architect, Howard L. Zimmerman Architects P.C. Britten’s art department then took the drawings and digitally replicated the details to generate a full-scale image of the building. The result is “trompe l’oeil” -- an ancient style of representation in which a painted object is intended to deceive the viewer into believing it is the object itself. The form was first used by the ancient Greeks.
The scene on Tuesday morning featured teams from Skyline Restoration, Spring Scaffolding and Britten unfurling eighteen 244-foot panels from the top of The Plaza. The pieces will be linked together to create one, seamless image for all of Fifth Avenue to see, while those inside The Plaza will see through the mesh onto the City’s skyline without impediment. The mesh will serve as “scrim” to protect restoration workers on scaffolding behind it, as well as pedestrians on sidewalks and streets below. It is expected the banner will remain in place through end of the year.
Restoration and cleaning of The Plaza’s exterior is already underway and being led by Skyline Restoration of Long Island, NY. The company is repairing and weatherproofing the façade and cleaning thousands of glazed white clay bricks.
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About The Plaza Hotel. One of America’s most celebrated hotels, The Plaza opened its doors on October 1, 1907, amid a flurry of impressive reports describing it as the greatest hotel in the world. It is jointly owned by Sahara Group and Kingdom Holdings and has been managed by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts since 1999.
Kings, presidents, ambassadors, stars of stage, screen and sports, as well as business executives and travelers from all parts of the world have gathered and stayed at The Plaza. Designated a New York City Landmark in 1969, The Plaza is listed on the Register of Historic Places and the only New York City hotel to be designated as a National Historic Landmark.
A six-year, $450 million restoration was completed in 2008.
About Britten - Founded in 1985, Britten is the nation’s leading provider of grand scale banners and displays, with customers ranging from Disney, ESPN, Simon Properties, and NASCAR to thousands of small businesses. The company is based in Traverse City, Mich.
TEXT CREDIT: New York, NY (PRWEB) June 03, 2013
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