history

built in 1908, this massive warehouse was home to stewart boiler company. until the 1920s. the crane room was used for boiler manuafacturing for ships and locomotives. the massive 15 ton crawler hoist was used to service steam locomotives, which were able to access the inside by way of the train tracks which remain to this day

2012

it all began on labor day weekend of 2012 with an inaugural 24-hour event we named ‘Fractalfest’. Later that year, we built a temple at the end of the world to celebrate the famed end of the mayan calendar. this was a huge success and paved the way for a whole world of creativity.

Temple stage design aaron fractaltribe & andres lopes

fabric installation nephilnine deco

2013

In the spring of 2013 I designed and built an hourlass form that spanned the full height of the crane room: a 35’ projection screen.

2014

The sun spiral surfaced in 2014 and fit the space so well that it still hangs there to this day. Each piece was hung individually by our rigger, Topher mira. We watched with delight as spiderman swung from rafter to rafter, gracefully putting the puzzle together. The result was a piece which gained a global audience.

2014-2015

in its heyday, the ‘big room’ served well—albeit infrequently—as a gathering space for an underground electronic subculture, gathering up to 1000 people at a time to dance until morning. we had the opportunity to host several world class performances such as Extrawelt, Vibrasphere, and dohm.

the space that makes big art possible

since 2016, we have utilized the space as a fabrication shop, building larger-than-life props and sculptures