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March 31, 1999 Protecting Rodin's Sculpture the "Gates of Hell"
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| Takenaka Corporation |
Takenaka was commissioned for work on Rodin's sculpture
the "Gates of Hell" installed in the garden in front of the main building
of Ueno's National Museum of Western Art, and has been carrying out
base isolation retrofit work, which is nearing completion. It is to
be opened to the public in the second half of April.
The "Gates of Hell" is one of Rodin's representative bronze sculptures,
and it has stood in the front garden of the National Museum of Western
Art since 1959. The sculpture is board-shaped, having a height of
5.4 meters, a width of 3.9 meters and weighing 7 tons. Because there is a danger
it may fall over in the event of a major earthquake, the sculpture
has been placed on a new platform fitted with a base-isolation device,
and in addition to eliminating the danger of falling over in the event
of an earthquake, conservation work was carried out such as replacing
the steel frame and bolts that had deteriorated with age. The base
isolation retrofit work on the Gates of Hell was awarded the first
special rating for earthquake resistant structures by the Building
Center of Japan, Foundation as a permanent work of art.
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The "Gates of Hell"
installed on a base-isolated base RODIN, Auguste "The Gates of Hell", 1880-1917 Matsukata Collection The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo |
Base isolation retrofit work entails installing a base-isolated base
comprising a base isolation device, base-isolated platform on which
the sculpture is placed (6.5 meters by 5.9 meters), and a rear support structure
that supports the sculpture.
The base isolation device comprises five
circular roller bearings, and two dampers. The circular roller bearings
utilized on this occasion were jointly developed by Takenaka and Oiles
Corporation to incorporate developments to fully utilize the base
isolation effect on large heavy objects. The bearings are based on
a lightweight base isolation device for display objects developed
by Oiles Corporation. The device comprises circular rollers between
two curved sheets, combined with three metal plates to form a cross-shape.
By combining the bearings in which the rollers roll from left to right
between the curved sheets in two directions, it is possible for it to
move freely in a horizontal direction. The five circular roller bearings
are integrated with a steel-reinforced joining material, so they all
move together.
The damper used is a viscous damper developed jointly
by Takenaka and Oiles Corporation.
This brings into play an effect of controlling a wide range of horizontal
displacement from minor to major earthquakes.
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Base isolation retrofit mechanism
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Construction work was carried out by initially
curing all parts of the "Gates of Hell" down to the finest detail
with polyurethane, before moving it from its place of installation
to a temporary storage location, where it was put over on its front
to allow conservation work to be carried out.
At the sculpture's installation
location the floor was dropped down and a base isolation device was
installed. A steel-reinforced concrete construction base-isolated
platform on which the sculpture would stand and the rear support structure
to support the sculpture were then installed on top of that device.
Then the "Gates of Hell" on which conservation work had been completed
was returned to this base isolated base, where it was fixed into position.
By supporting the "Gates of Hell" with the base isolation platform
and the rear support structure, it is possible to reduce the shaking
during an earthquake such as the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 to one-eighth or
less of its original magnitude.
The conservation work carried out
on the "Gates of Hell" involved repair and conservation work such
as replacing the decrepit supporting steel on the rear of the sculpture
and the rusted bolts with stainless steel replacements. Although the
"Gates of Hell" seems to be one body when viewed from the front, it
actually comprises 18 parts joined together with bolts in a complex
manner. Each bolt was checked carefully from behind, and work was
advanced with great care, with 437 bolts replaced with highly durable
stainless steel bolts, accounting for approximately 90 percent of the total.
Takenaka established Office of Seismic Isolation and Vibration Control Engineering
in March 1998, which is actively tackling the base isolation and structural
control of new and existing buildings. In the future we intend to
actively tackle the base isolation of large works of art of great
cultural value, as well as buildings.
The "Gates of Hell"
| Artist: | Auguste Rodin (France, 1840 to 1917) |
| Years made: | 1880 to 1917 (Original) |
| Material: | Bronze |
| Dimensions: | Height 5.4 m, width 3.9 m, thickness 1.0 m |
| Weight: | 7 t |
| Installed: | 1959 (With the opening of the National Museum of Western Art) |
* Rodin started work on this project in 1880 on commission from the French government, and it was one of his major works he tackled as his lifework. From this work were created many separate works such as "The Thinker." The work displayed here is a cast of the original made at the request of Kojiro Matsukata. It was installed in 1959 in the front garden of the National Museum of Western Art to coincide with its opening. The Museum was designed by Le Corbusier to display the Matsukata Collection returned by the French Government after the war. Currently six bronzes of this work exist throughout the world.
For details see Musee Rodin website http://www.musee-rodin.fr
Overview of Construction
| Project name: | Base Isolation Work on National Museum of Western Art's "Gates of Hell" |
| Address: | 7-7 Ueno Koennai, Taito-ku, Tokyov |
| Client: | National Museum of Western Art |
| Design: | National Museum of Western Art, Yokoyama Architect & Structural Engineering, Takenaka Corporation |
| Construction: | Takenaka Corporation |
| Construction schedule: | December 1998 to March 1999 |