Phoenix Office of Arts
and Culture
Civic Space Project
Beginning on March 9, 2009, construction crews will complete installation of a major outdoor work of public art by Janet Echelman at the new Downtown Civic Space, located north of Van Buren Street between Central and First Avenues. This will be the final phase of the sculpture’s installation. The first phase occurred in late June 2008, when construction crews erected the sculpture’s structural steel armature. The award-winning structure consists of two tubular steel rings suspended above the park on a framework of cables attached to three tapered poles. During March, crews will install the sculpture’s multi-colored flexible net. The work is expected to take three days. Crews will also install lighting to give the work a landmark presence at night. The lighting will be completed in March. This iconic public sculpture and surrounding park add to the growing list of public and private initiatives revitalizing downtown Phoenix.
The sculpture received the 2008 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award from the Arizona Structural Engineers Association (ASEA). The award was given to Tucson-based M3 Engineering and Technology, a member of the sculpture’s design and fabrication team, which is headed by CAID Industries, also of Tucson.
The firm earned the prize for designing the sculpture’s unique support system of steel cables and poles. The project received the award even before the sculpture’s structural system was erected.
Q: What is the Downtown Civic Space Park and how is it funded?
A: The new park is the result of a collaborative effort between the city
of Phoenix and Arizona State University. The goal is to have a special place
that would benefit residents, students and downtown visitors.
Q: Why will the park include public art?
A: When planning for the park, the city conducted extensive public outreach
among hundreds of central city residents, the arts community, downtown businesses,
ASU students, seniors and other stakeholders. An overwhelming majority of
the participants embraced art as an important element of the Downtown Civic
Space Park.
Q: How
much will the sculpture cost?
A: In December 2007 the Phoenix City Council approved $1.9 million to proceed
with the design, engineering, fabrication and installation of the sculpture.
The total design and construction cost of the sculpture is estimated to
be $2.5 million.
Q: In light
of the city's budget crunch, why is the city using taxpayer funds to proceed
with the art project?
A: The Civic Space art project DOES NOT include funding from the city's
general purpose budget. Monies from the general purpose fund are used for
such city services as police and fire, parks, libraries and senior centers.
The art project is being paid for with one percent for art funds from the
city's capital improvement budget. Capital funds must be spent on brick
and mortar projects, such as the Civic Space.
Q: What
has this project contributed to the economy?
A. The sculpture’s design and fabrication supported about 150 jobs,
110 of them in Arizona. CAID industries, in Tucson, was contracted for $1.9
million to coordinate the final design, fabrication and installation of
the sculpture’s structural steel and net components. Another $600,000
was contracted for additional design and fabrication services. Of the $2.5
million total, approximately $1,610,000 (64%) went to Arizona suppliers,
contractors and workers. The professions involved in building the sculpture
ranged from engineers, surveyors, architects, cement workers, landscape
architects and truckers to electricians, steelworkers, caisson drillers,
welders, painters and crane operators.
Q: How
was the artwork selected?
A: The city conducted an international competitive process in 2007 that
drew 178 submittals from artists in Arizona and around the world to create
the park's artwork. As with all other city public art projects, a diverse
selection panel of community members, artists, public art specialists, stakeholders
and city staff reviewed the submittals and recommended the artist for this
project.
Q: Who
is the selected artist?
A. Janet Echelman is an eminent international artist known for sculpting
exciting public spaces. Her work has been installed in a dozen nations throughout
Asia, Europe, and North America. She draws much of the inspiration for her
works from the history, culture and built and natural environments of each
site. She was part of a team that designed the 9/11 memorial for Hoboken,
NJ, across the Hudson River from where the World Trade Towers stood. She
has designed a major outdoor work for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In 2005, she completed She Changes, a monumental wind sculpture made of
steel and netting in Porto, Portugal. The artist and her team of architects
are coordinating the design and location of her Downtown Civic Space sculpture
with numerous city departments and EDAW, the landscape architecture firm
designing the park.
Q: What
did Echelman design for the park?
A: The Civic Space piece Echelman designed is similar to the wind sculpture
she created in Porto, Portugal. The Phoenix sculpture is suspended approximately
40 feet above the ground on a structural steel armature. It rises to a height
of about 100 feet and will be about 100 feet in diameter across the top.
Q: What
other special features or aspects does the sculpture include?
A: The artist was inspired by Arizona’s distinctive monsoon cloud
formations and Saguaro cactus blossoms, the state flower, to create a vortex-like
form which hangs from the two rings. In addition to the rings, the sculpture
features light-weight netting that billows and moves with the wind, capturing
the dynamic beauty of desert light and the movement of gusts and breezes.
Specialized lighting will give the work and the park a landmark presence
at night. The net will be made of durable polyester twine with integral
colors in blue and violet. The stamen-like core of the sculpture will be
yellow.
Q: How
will the artwork withstand the area's harsh summer climates and monsoon
seasons?
A: The sculpture is built with structural steel tubing and flexible netting
made from woven polyester fiber with extruded color. Polyester, a recyclable
material, has the strength to withstand the net’s constant motion.
The material is used for large ocean fishing nets, which are subjected to
enormous forces and abuse. Polyester will fade over time, but will be far
less costly than other materials to maintain and replace.
Design/Engineering
Janet Echelman, artist (Boston)
Speranza Architecture, architect (Barcelona)
CAID Industries, project design/engineering coordination (Tucson)
M3 Engineers, steel structural engineer (Tucson)
Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, P.C. (New York), net design/engineering
Peter Heppel Associates (Paris), net design consultant
EDAW, landscape architects (Phoenix)
Paul Deeb, lighting design
Fabrication
- Installation
CAID Industries, structural steel fabrication (Tucson)
Foresite Design and Construction, sculptural foundations and park (Tempe)
Nexus Steel, structural steel installation/erection (Tempe)
Diamond Nets, net fabrication (Washington)
Net Services, net installation (Washington)
Poles 105 feet, 125 feet and 145 feet tall
Rings Outer: 100 feet wide
Inner: 30 feet wide
Cable 1 ¾ -inch cable
1-inch cable
Net Material Integral color polyester fiber twine and rope
Net Dimensions 100 feet wide
at the top – 15 feet wide at the bottom
The lowest part of the net hangs 38 feet above the ground.
The highest rises to about 100 feet.
Project Budget $2.5 million for
artwork contractual services plus
$164,000 for project administrative costs
Contractual Arizona - $1,610,000
(64%)
Services Non-Arizona - $890,000 (36%)