Cloud gate
The Cloud Gate , a public sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor , is the central work of art on AT&T Square in Millennium Park in Chicago , Illinois. The sculpture was created between 2004 and 2006 and is also called The Bean because of its bean-like shape . It was welded together from 168 stainless steel plates , is highly polished and has no visible seams. It measures L × W × H 20 m × 13 m × 10 m (66 ft × 44 ft × 33 ft) and weighs 99.8 tons. Due to the arched vault in the middle of the underside of the body, which is roughly shaped like a three-axis ellipsoid, there is a 3 m high crossing possibility for pedestrians. The bean is popular with park visitors for taking distorted photographic self-portraits .
draft
In 1998, representatives of Millennium Park and a group of art collectors, curators and architects viewed works of art by 30 different artists, two of whom asked for a project proposal. The American artist Jeff Koons designed an approx. 46 meter high sculpture of a playground slide that was to be reached via an elevator. The committee decided on the proposal of the internationally recognized artist Anish Kapoor. The design envisaged an object with a seamless surface made of stainless steel, the shape of which is reminiscent of liquid mercury . This mirror-like surface was intended to reflect the Chicago skyline , but in a distorted and twisted image due to its elliptical shape.
Construction and construction
The British engineering company Aerotrope created the structural design. The company Performance Structures (PSI) was commissioned with the implementation, as they were known for their ability to create almost invisible weld seams. The project started when PSI tried to create a smaller model. Using a high-density polyurethane foam template selected by Kapoor, the final structural design including the internal components was created.
PSI originally planned to build the sculpture in Oakland , California and ship it to Chicago through the Panama Canal and the St. Lawrence River . However, this plan was discarded because park officials believed it was too risky. Instead, the decision was made to bring the individual panels to Chicago by truck and to assemble them on site; a task performed by MTH Industries .
Concerns have been expressed about the weight of the sculpture. The thickness of the steel needed to achieve the desired aesthetic appearance of the sculpture was difficult to estimate. Originally it was estimated that Cloud Gate would weigh 54.4 tons when completed, but the final weight was almost twice that at 99.8 tons. The extra weight made it necessary for engineers to rethink the support structure. The roof of the Park Grill, on which the Cloud Gate stands, had to be removed to support the weight. The large retaining wall separating Chicago's METRA from North Grant Park carries much of the weight of the sculpture and forms the back of the restaurant. This wall, along with the rest of the foundations, had to be reinforced before construction could begin. The Cloud Gate is also strengthened by cross bars anchored under the paving of the square.
The noticeable thermal expansion of the metal when the temperature changes made it necessary for the support structure of the shell to be elastic and, in turn, to be supported by two rings inside, which in turn are supported somewhat displaceably on supports that are fixed to the floor. The shell is in direct heat exchange with the ambient air and tends to take on its temperature more quickly than the supports inside. The soil has a high thermal capacity and low thermal conductivity, which is why annual temperature fluctuations typically only penetrate about one meter deep.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Special Project - Chicago's Millennium Park Project. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 12, 2008 ; Retrieved July 13, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 41 ° 52 ′ 57.7 " N , 87 ° 37 ′ 24" W.