Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has once again come together with American artist Janet Echelman for a site-specific sculptural installation in Munich’s historic Odeonsplatz Square.
The atmospheric sculpture is in constant motion, activating the public space below while changing shape and color with the wind using a 3D data model of the earth’s floor following a powerful 2010 Chilean earthquake from which the ‘1.26’ monicker is taken.
“My artwork reflects an interconnectedness of opposites — flexibility with strength, earth with sky, things we can control with the forces beyond us,” Echelman said.
The sculpture is comprised of more than 361,000 individual knots formed by handmade splices of woven nylon and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene rope fibers. The sculpture weighs 700 pounds and occupies about 3,300 square feet of total area. Its responsiveness and adaptivity represent the notion of nature as a system explored by various key figures throughout art history, including Michelangelo and Claude Monet.
SOM and Echelman had previously collaborated on a similar installation at the Jeremy Hotel in Los Angeles that garnered recognition in CODAworx’s annual list of awards. Echelman has installed versions of Earthtime 1.26 in Denver (2010), Singapore (2014), Hong Kong (2019), and Gwanggyo (2020), among others. SOM provided structural engineering support for the Munich installation.
Earthtime 1.26 Munich was installed in August as part of Mercedes Benz’ contribution to this year’s IAA Mobility auto show, which focused on sustainability and the future of transportation. The installation will be on view until October 3rd.
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hey yeah we do art stuff too.
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