Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2022

  • Work on this object began.

2025

Photograph, View looking up at the subfab of a semiconductor fabrication facility

This is a Photograph. It was photographed by Christopher Payne and subject: Global Foundries, Inc..

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Christopher Payne as part of Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne.

It is dated 2022. Its medium is digital pigment print. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


While the delicate process of creating silicon wafers takes place on the floor above, this "subfab" – the service area located directly beneath the cleanroom in a semiconductor factory – houses the intricate network of equipment and utilities that make that process possible.　Captured looking up toward the ceiling, the image highlights the precision spatial design required to support advanced manufacturing.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 101.6 × 134.6 cm (40 × 53 in.) H x W (framed dimensions): 106.7 × 139.7 cm (42 × 55 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-5.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318812398/ |title=Photograph, View looking up at the subfab of a semiconductor fabrication facility |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=1 December 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>