“Fallen Star” House to be Hoisted Atop Jacobs School of Engineering Building Today

Come witness a remarkable feat today: Provided the weather cooperates, a small house will be lifted seven stories and perched atop a Jacobs School of Engineering building on Warren Mall.

The latest addition to UC San Diego’s Stuart Collection of site-specific sculptures, “Fallen Star” by Korean artist Do Ho Suh, is a three-quarter-sized version of a Rhode Island cottage. It measures 15 by 18 feet and weighs 70,000 pounds.

Starting at about 11:30 a.m., the “Fallen Star” house will be raised 100 feet in the air and attached to the seventh-floor roof of Jacobs Hall (Engineering Building Unit 1) – cantilevered at an angle from a corner.

Mary Beebe, founding director of the Stuart Collection, and project manager Mathieu Gregoire said they believe this is the most complex project the collection has undertaken to date. It even beats “Bear,” a 180-ton sculpture created out of granite stones.

“Fallen Star” is estimated to be completed between January and March 2012. Its interior will be furnished and the exterior will include a garden on the roof of Jacobs Hall.

The project is supported entirely by private donations to the Stuart Collection and a $90,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Because no practice run is possible, and safety and quality are of utmost importance, the following detailed timeline is an estimate:

7:30 a.m. - Brewer crane arrives on site to build up crane
10:30 a.m. - Rigging cables to the cottage in preparation to hoist
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Hoist cottage to roof and structurally attach
(Again, subject to weather conditions.)

You can read more about “Fallen Star” in an earlier ThisWeek story.

You can also watch a UCSD-TV video.