ATLAS X

The sculpture was fabricated to my detailed working drawings by a metal construction firm outside Paris. The large spherical form and three other elements were then shipped to the site, assembled and painted. The bright orange-red was chosen to contrast with the dark shades of the building cladding.

The sculpture stands in the parking area of a hotel located across from the Philadelphia International Airport.

Discussions with the city planning officers and the owners suggested the need for both a local landmark and a signal for the entrance of the hotel which is hidden from cars entering the grounds.

For several years I had been working with the Atlas theme for small sculptures. With a site adjacent to the international airport, it was a theme readily accepted by all concerned. In the development of the model (which was required very quickly) I used perforated metal for the first time, substituting it for the grills previously used for semi-transparent planes. Although intended only as a temporary expedient, the architect and I agreed that it worked well; I decided to retain the peforated sheet.

Material: painted steel
steel sheet-8mm (5/16") to 22mm (7/8"Á