The Watt and Shand building

The Watt and Shand building on the center square in Lancaster, formerly a department store, is being extensively renovated into a hotel and convention center. Essentially all that remains of the original building is the facade, which is supported by scaffolding. The process is providing some marvelous photo opportunities. The picture above was taken in April 07, when the demolition was done and all that was left was the shell.

Here's a picture from January 08, where the new building is beginning to rise behind the facade:

And here's one showing the banners they used to gussie things up for the holidays:

I will continue to take pictures as the building progresses, and plan to use them for cyanotypes and/or prints on fabric. I don't often use architectural subjects in my work, they seem too static, but I am intrigued when the architecture interacts in a vivid way with the natural world. I am fascinated by the Watt and Shand facade because of the way the windows frame the sky. I've done some work featuring the Veteran's Memorial Bridge in Columbia because I love how the arches frame the river. Below is a detail from "The Old Bridge".