Pattern Language uses wooden foundry patterns from the National Pipe Bending Company to take a fresh look at a vestige of New Haven’s industrial past. A subsidiary of the Bigelow Boiler Company, NPB prospered for over 100 years on River Street in Fair Haven. When it closed it left behind a forgotten stash of these beautifully made examples of the pattern maker’s craft, integral to the process of making cast iron parts. I saved a number of them from destruction just before the building was demolished and practiced a bit of found object artistic alchemy where I did my best to retain the pattern’s original patina of time, use, and color while endowing them with new life and meaning.
