In the early 1980's, a colleague called Dr. Christian's attention to the copper fascia at the Material Sciences Building being built at Purdue University. A roofing contractor from Frankfort, Indiana was doing the work on that building, and it appeared that he was capable of doing the work for SAMARA. Unfortunately, he died while vacationing in Florida in 1985 and his sons, who carried on the family business, were not able to do the work. Dr. Christian continued his search for a qualified artisan.
In early 1991 Dr. Christian met Eric Lloyd Wright, a grandson of Frank Lloyd Wright, at a conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Eric Wright told him about an artisan from Nebraska, Missouri who was doing all the brass work for a renovation on a Wright-designed home in South Carolina. Dr. Christian traveled to Missouri to meet Mr. Quitno of the Norman Corporation and had them make a prototype of the ornamentation to Mr. Wright's specifications. Ultimately the W. F. Norman Co. was hired to make the pressed copper units, which were installed by Tarpenning-LaFollette of Indianapolis in 1992.