LEAN TO 2011-15

Corten Steel, lasers, electronics and custom seating. 12 x 37 x 16.75 meters.

Private commission, Bolton Landing, NY

Over a period of 4 years, Schreiber developed Lean To based on multiple site visits, technical tests and research into the areas’ “Great Camps”, for this private commission. He worked closely with architect Peter Gluck and designer Eric Schaeffer to realize this highly complex and permanent work.

The Great Camps of the Adirondack Mountains refers to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake, Rainbow Lake and Lake George. The camps were summer homes for the wealthy, where they could relax, host or attend parties, and enjoy the wilderness. In time, however, this was accomplished without leaving the comforts of civilization behind. Architecturally, the site for Lean To reflected on the contemporary take of the Great Camp.

During the extended site visits and research, I focused on the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalists, most specifically on their use of nature. I wanted to create a site for meditation through spatial and extended time, climate and light changes. By plumbing a geometric form within the site-grade with lasers, a structure to nature was revealed. Lasers and light can only be seen through an interaction with some medium. With Lean To, the changing weather conditions along Lake George use mist, fog, rain and snow to alter the solidity of the laser geometry. This climate based time scale allows for a deep and prolonged meditation.

The title, Lean To, developed during the site visits with my family. My son, Willem, was fascinated with building structures and shelters from branches and leaves throughout the property. These Lean To forms led to a specific grade of boulders and trees on the property that could reflect a massive version of this shape made by Willem. The main tree form resulted in a torqued Corten Steel post, and the sticks built with laser light.