Background & Scope
Judith Neilson opened Dangrove Art Storage in Sydney in 2009 to house a major collection of contemporary Chinese art. At the centre of Dangrove’s great room stands Over, a sculpture by Beijing-based conceptual artist Liu Wei and the latest piece in his Microworld 3 series. The work features winding, biomorphic aluminium sheets that spread out from a central core.
The project required a minimalist, free-standing display case placed in the center of the hall. Guided by the artist, the enclosure was meant to act as an extension of the sculpture. The design called for a fully self-supported glass vitrine with no visible frames or hardware, so nothing would distract from the artwork. This setup allowed clear views across more than 180 square metres and made it easy to access the piece for regular cleaning and care.
Structural Load Distribution & Precision Fabrication
European Museum Technology fabricated the primary components for the display case at its Melbourne facility before transporting the assemblies to Sydney for site installation. EMT engineered the free-standing structure to be entirely self-supporting, eliminating the need for internal structural columns or perimeter framing.
The structural design utilises the vertical glass panels as primary load-bearing elements. These large glass panes support the weight of the upper ceiling section and its internal lighting assembly, giving viewers the impression that the illuminated ceiling floats unassisted above the sculpture.
Flex-Fabric Illumination & Operational Access Mechanics
To deliver uniform lighting across the upper canopy, EMT integrated an extendible flex-fabric membrane beneath an LED lighting array. This technique diffuses light consistently across the entire ceiling plane, eliminating shadows and hardware artefacts from edge to edge and corner to corner.
To meet maintenance requirements without compromising the frameless aesthetic, EMT incorporated a custom sliding mechanism into the glass framework. This sliding panel allows maintenance personnel to operate a 300-kilogram glass section single-handedly for periodic internal access.
