Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Walter P Moore, and its sub-consultant, WPM Engineering, shared the unique privilege of supporting the work of award winning artist and renown human rights activist, Ai Weiwei, in two of his Good Fences Make Good Neighbors installations. The title is taken from a proverb cited in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”, where the need for a boundary wall is being questioned. The work is a social political commentary and draws on Ai WeiWei’s own experiences in exile camps. Ai chose this title so exhibit visitors will discover that the Good Fences are not impenetrable barriers but powerful additions to the fabric of a diverse migrant city.

The first of installation, Gilded Cage, is a cylindrical steel open lattice structure which is approximately 25’ in diameter and 26’ tall located in Central Park. The second called Arch, is a rectangular steel open lattice structure which is approximately 21’ wide by 7’ deep and 36’ tall with a curved doorway through the structure and is in Washington Park.

Each structure was fabricated in China and designed as a series a stackable steel plate structures which could be shipped in containers to site and field bolted together to from the structure.  The design was geared toward minimum erection time, 2 days for each, while still meeting the aesthetic intent to achieve a high density of small plate members.  Walter P Moore and team addressed the unique challenges of each site including coordination with existing infrastructure and various city agencies in order to ensure a timely installation of the artist’s work.