{"id":2349,"date":"2024-05-25T17:18:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T21:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/?p=2349"},"modified":"2026-02-11T18:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:02:42","slug":"lions-at-the-spruces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/projects\/lions-at-the-spruces\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions at the Spruces"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2024<\/a>

2024 Big Art Show Exhibition<\/p><\/div>\n

What do Vienna, a long-lost trailer park in Williamstown, and two fifth graders have in common? They all came together via architecture, storytelling, and a whole lot of glue in a Makerspace project that began as a college classroom assignment and grew into something far more textured (literally and metaphorically).<\/p>\n

Welcome to ARTS 222 \/ ENVI 202: Critical Architecture Practice<\/a>, where theory meets practice, and memory is not only something you hold onto, but something you build<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Backstory: Lions, Memory, and the Spruces<\/h2>\n

The Spruces was a trailer park in Williamstown, Massachusetts that was flooded by Hurricane Irene, and then closed in 2016. While it’s no longer standing, its memory continues to ripple through the town\u2019s environmental and architectural narratives. For this class project, led by Giuseppina Forte, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Environmental Studies, (with TAs Elijah Washington \u201824 and Grace Espinosa ’26), students set out to reimagine the site and its emotional geography through architectural modeling.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>

David Keiser-Clark took measurements of the lion statues (on site) at the former Spruces in Williamstown, MA<\/p><\/div>\n

The mission<\/h2>\n

Recreate a tabletop model of the Spruces site and anchor it with two majestic lions, inspired by those that once guarded the entrance. But these weren’t just any lions.<\/p>\n

How to (Re)Build a Lion<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s rewind to Vienna, Austria. A statue stands outside the METAstadt in Donaustadt of a proud, regal lion. David Keiser-Clark, Makerspace Program Manager, searched Google and found what appeared to be an exact match of \u201cour\u201d lions at the METAstadt. He found a digital version of the statue that had been uploaded by a tourist who scanned it with Polycam in LiDAR mode with their iPhone 14 Pro Max (credit to @Stefan_80888<\/a>). David drove to the Williamstown lion statues, and used a 30\u2019 measuring tape to mark down the dimensions.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/a>

Left: Autodesk Fusion 360 CAD renderings created by Alice Sore ’27, from measurements, to 3D print the pillars and base. Right: digitized lion scan placed, to scale, on top of pillars structure.<\/p><\/div>\n

Alice Sore \u201927, a Makerspace student worker, used AutoDesk\u2019s Fusion 360 software to model the statue\u2019s pedestals and columns from scratch, creating not just pieces of the project but a learning moment. She used this experience to then lead the Makerspace’s first \u201cTeach-In: Learning Fusion 360<\/em>\u201d, and walked fellow students through the software and showed them how to model architectural structures with precision and confidence.<\/p>\n

\"Intelligent<\/a>

Intelligent CAD modeling includes auto-centering devices that also add strength and rigidity.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once the lion, pedestal, and columns were ready, we printed them in white PLA in four separate sections, kind of like Legos for architects, and bonded them with cyanoacrylate glue.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/a>

Left: first completed statue. Right: The second one is always easier and quicker.<\/p><\/div>\n

But they weren\u2019t finished. Not yet.<\/p>\n

Enter: Two Fifth Graders and a Can of Paint<\/h2>\n

What do you do when you want your lion statues to look like they\u2019ve stood in the elements for decades, rather than hours?<\/p>\n

You recruit two fifth graders, naturally.<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth<\/a>

Elizabeth Heeringa and Anderson Keiser-Clark, fifth graders, provided the vision for aging and the labor to complete the entire post-processing effect. (Clockwise from top left: Anderson on left, and Elizabeth on right; Elizabeth dry brushing with greens to create moss effect; Bottom left: more dry bushing; Bottom right: Getting out the ladder as these lions are tall!<\/p><\/div>\n

Elizabeth Heeringa and Anderson Keiser-Clark, armed with brushes, DryLok Masonry Waterproofer, acrylic paint, a misting bottle, and a creative eye, transformed glossy 3D prints into textured, time-worn sentinels. They painted the lions with two coats of DryLok, which added grit (sand is in the paint) and also obscured the 3D printed lines. They then used an \u201cacrylic wash\u201d, a mixture of 85% water and 15% black acrylic paint, and spritzed the lions multiple times, allowing them to dry between each coating. Finally, they used a technique called dry-brushing, using tiny brushes and miniscule amounts of pure acrylic color to create highlights. They used greys to emphasize age, and greens to simulate moss or lichen, until the lions no longer looked like something made yesterday but like artifacts pulled from a lost world. (Elizabeth shared that an optional final step would be to dip a paint brush in white acrylic paint and then flick it at the object to create little stippled drops of paint.)<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth<\/a>

Elizabeth initially warned that the black acrylic wash solution goes on strong and creates deep and dark puddles, but eventually dries much lighter. Effectively, she said: “Don’t worry, David.” Left: You can see the difference of the acrylic wash on cardboard (dried dark), and how 3 successive additive layers dried on the scrap base with slightly darker tones and increase variation of patterning. Right: Massive puddling and dripping of black paint that will dry in significantly lighter tones.<\/p><\/div>\n

Elizabeth created this original 3D post processing recipe from scratch. You saw it here first.<\/p>\n

Anderson also helped calibrate the Makerspaces 3D printers, because of course he did.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/a>

Left: Lion dripping from the acrylic wash spray; Right: Completed lion after multiple acrylic wash sprayings.<\/p><\/div>\n

A Model of Memory<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, Professor Forte and her team worked on designing the 30\u201d x 30\u201d tabletop model of the Spruces site built to a scale of 800:1, which means it represents a 2,000\u2019 x 2,000\u2019 section of land. Four interlocking 15\u201d x 15\u201d environmentally friendly MDF panels called Eucaboard (made from eucalyptus fibers), two layers thick, formed the base. An etched river flows through the landscape, marked by laser-etched topography and filled with translucent blue acrylic.<\/p>\n

Every detail of mobile homes represented by tiny markers, zones carved into MDF, and even the idea of including a scale model trailer with furnishings was designed to be both informative and deeply effective. This wasn\u2019t just about land use. It was about memory, displacement, community, and presence.<\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/h2>\n

Architecture isn\u2019t just about buildings. It\u2019s about what we build to remember. What we build to mean<\/em> something.<\/p>\n

This project took a long-forgotten corner of Williamstown, wrapped it in theory, scaled it to human imagination, and rebuilt it with resin, MDF, paint, and story.<\/p>\n

It involved artists, scientists, young makers, international scans, and kids with paintbrushes.<\/p>\n

And as the lions stood silent, strong, slightly green at the mane you could almost hear them guarding the gates not just of a trailer park, but of a memory that refuses to fade.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/a>

Left: Lion and Elizabeth; Right Anderson and Lion.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"2024<\/a>

2024 Spring Big Art Show Exhibition. Lions standing as sentinels.<\/p><\/div>\n

Elizabeth\u2019s Post Processing Recipe<\/h2>\n

Elizabeth mentions it’s important to use the normal version of DryLok Masonry Waterproofer, as the \u201cextreme\u201d version lacks the sandy texture.<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth's<\/a>

Elizabeth’s supplies.<\/p><\/div>\n

More Information<\/h2>\n