Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman

Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior PhotographyBending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior PhotographyBending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior PhotographyBending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior PhotographyBending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - More Images+ 16

Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior Photography, Aerial View Photography
© Brian Adams

Text description provided by the architects. Composed of 1,662,528 knots and 180 miles of twine, the aerial sculpture spans 424 feet and measures 72 feet at its tallest point. Echelman's art embraces change. The monumental sculpture gently billows above the Pier District, allowing the wind to create a choreography of constantly changing shape in the sculpture's soft surface. The sculpture’s color also transforms at every moment while its surface interplays with natural and projected light. In the daytime the sculpture casts shadow drawings on the park and people below, and at night it transforms into a glowing beacon of magenta and violet light.

Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior Photography
© Brian Adams

The internationally-renowned artist was inspired by historical postcards depicting blue and white striped beach parasols together with the geometric forms made by colonies of barnacles growing on the underside of the pier itself. The sculpture’s design in aerial view can be read as three barnacle-like parasols nestled together.

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Diagram
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Plan

As she continued her design process, she learned of the site’s important Civil Rights Movement significance, as the place where local citizens began peacefully challenging racial barriers, leading to the 1957 US Supreme Court case ruling which upheld the rights of all citizens to enjoy use of the municipal beach and swimming pool without discrimination. The sculpture’s geometry in section is composed of multiple arcs, which gently billow in the wind. The artist titled the sculpture Bending Arc in reference to MLK’s words: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior Photography
© Brian Adams
Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Image 15 of 21
© Joe Sale

A public-private partnership, the fiber sculpture was funded entirely by private donors, and the cost of its related infrastructure and park was covered within the city’s $92 million Pier District project. Made entirely of lightweight fiber, the monumental sculpture is engineered to withstand 150 mph winds, and the maximum force applied to its masts is 65 tons. The rope is made of fiber 15 times stronger than steel by weight and was used by NASA to tether the Mars Rover. The net in plan covers 47,500 square feet. The net and ropes weigh a total of 5,330 pounds.

Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior Photography
© Brian Adams

Echelman’s artwork offers visitors an oasis where they can seek a moment of calm sensory experience and heightened awareness of nature and our place within it. “The sky is the canvas for my artwork,” says Echelman, “and because this art is outside in the fresh air. During this pandemic, it offers a place for people to share an authentic experience while staying safe.”

Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman - Exterior Photography
Courtesy of City of St.Petersburg

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Project location

Address:600 2nd Ave NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, United States

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About this office
Cite: "Bending Arc Installation / Janet Echelman" 23 Jul 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/944245/bending-arc-installation-janet-echelman> ISSN 0719-8884

© Brian Adams

笼罩码头区的纤维雕塑 / Janet Echelman

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