Gigantic Escher at Schiphol
safety for human health
The 48-metre-long work ‘Metamorphosis III’ by the well-known graphic artist M.C. Escher was recently installed at Schiphol airport. With overlapping and dissolving colours and motifs, the work shows transitions from birds into fish, from a town into a chessboard, horses and salamanders.
Until recently the famous wall painting on canvas, which measures 48 metres by 1.2, hung in the large hall of the Kerkplein post office in The Hague. Lack of space in the post office was the airport’s gain; Schiphol now has the enormous work on permanent loan. ‘The removal, transport and installation of the work took some doing,’ says CAE / CAD specialist Eric Borst of Royal Haskoning Dordtse Engineering. ‘How do you move a fragile work of art of this vast size?’ The entire painting was mapped using laser scanning. Then a 3D CAD model was made of it, so that the complex wall painting could be hung identically and according to the original dimensions. It was then divided into six pieces under the watchful eye of a restorer, transported by trailer in special packaging and hung at Schiphol in accordance with the 3D model. ‘We are proud that a work by one of the most famous Dutch graphic artists is hanging at Schiphol, says Schiphol’s president, Gerlach Cerfontaine.
Contactpersoon: Eric Borst
+31 (0)78 6522 522
e.borst@royalhaskoning.com
