Olivetti Showroom Wall Relief [relocated] (Cambridge, MA) : View of about half the wall as reinstalled in the Science Center

Creator:

Nivola, Constantino, 1911-1987

Published/Created:

1 Oxford Street, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
1954 ; moved 1973 (alteration); restored 2005 (restoration)

Physical Description:

75 ft (length)

Date Depicted:

8/5/2008

Materials:

sand-cast cement

Notes:

Constantino Nivola came from a Sardinian family of stonemasons and served an apprenticeship as a stonemason. In 1936 he entered the graphics' division of Olivetti in Italy, later emigrating to the US. In time he became a close friend of Le Corbusier and with his influence, Nivola defined his technique of sand-casting. He created a 'negative image' of his work in the sand on the beach, poured cement into the resultant mold and removed the cement block once it had dried. A 75-foot-long wall relief was made for the Olivetti showroom on Fifth Avenue, which opened to great acclaim in 1954, the same year Nivola became a professor and the director of the "Design Workshop" at Harvard. When the Olivetti showroom closed in 1970, the panels went to the Science Center at Harvard and have been on view since 1973. Restoration of the relief's colors took place in 2005.

Variant Titles:

Wall relief, Harvard Science Center

Topics:

Sculpture -- United States -- 20th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Twentieth century

Culture:

American

Accession Number:

6A1-NCO-UPC-A01

Genre:

architecture (AAT)
sculpture: bas-reliefs (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

visual works; sculpture (visual work); reliefs (sculptures); bas-reliefs (sculpture)

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Addition Module Eight

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
8/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2013; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4654

OID:

10903346

PID:

digcoll:1840124