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| Remembering Ben Palagonia, Turner City artist from 1967-1994  Turner City artist Ben Palagonia, who illustrated thousands of Turner projects over 27 years, passed away on Wednesday, September 9, 2015.During Ben's tenure, he transformed Turner City from a black and white illustration to a vibrant watercolor, doubled the size of the canvas to represent more projects, and detailed the tremendous growth and evolution of the building industry over nearly three decades. From his first Turner City in 1967 – which included the original Madison Square Garden – to his last, a collaboration with his successor, his son John, in 1994 – Ben's creativity and imagination, his attention to detail, and his lifelong passion for the art of architecture have had an enduring and inspiring impact on Turner and the tradition of Turner City. Henry Turner, the founder of Turner Construction Company, came up with the idea of a composite landscape drawing of all the buildings his company constructed. An aerial view would be a way to capture Turner's building projects. Turner for Concrete was eight years old and the first rendering would capture construction completed during those years. Whether it was simply a way to attest to the accomplishments of the young company or a means to market and sell their services, it soon became a yearly collaboration between the architects, engineers, project managers, and artist. Over 100 years, six artists have produced renderings that have encompassed the emerging trends in building design as well as the expansion and boom and slumps in building development. Beginning as a small collection of industrial buildings (over twenty in the very early renderings), the Turner For Concrete has become the sprawling Turner City of today with over one hundred and seventy projects around the United States as well as those internationally as far flung as Asia, South America, Europe and Africa. In total, the artwork has depicted well over 4000 buildings and over a billion square feet of floor space. write your comments about the article :: © 2015 Construction News :: home page |