Our Friend Fluid Metal

Large Scale Sculpture Installation

We were tasked with designing the anchorage for a large-scale sculpture by the artist Nancy Rubins, to be part of an exhibition on an exterior terrace at the Art Institute of Chicago. As the exhibition was temporary, we were tasked with designing a means to support the sculpture without connecting directly to the structure below. The sculpture was analyzed for the harsh Chicago winter conditions, including the combined actions of wind with ice and snow loads. We worked closely with the artist’s team to come up with a solution using hidden connections to a massive steel base plate shrouded in a stainless steel cover made to look like the base was an intentional part of the sculpture.

Work completed while at The Design Collaborative