When it comes to physical size and aesthetics, the Statue of Liberty will soon have a West Coast counterpart.
Venus, a 92-foot stainless steel statue, will highlight a large public piazza in the middle of San Francisco’s Trinity Place.
Created by artist Lawrence Argent, Venus is a modern day interpretation of the Venus de Milo, the armless ancient Greek statue. Venus will be made of 2,500 stainless steel panels seamlessly welded together on site, and it will be unveiled this summer.
“The idea of replicating the Venus de Milo came from a classical idea – an icon – that has been revered and respected for centuries. Venus at Trinity Place became this whirling object manifesting like a genie in a bottle coming out of the ground,” Argent said in a statement.
For scale, Venus is a little shorter than New York’s Statue of Liberty, which stands 111.5 feet as measured from heel to crown.
Venus is part of a larger installation on the piazza at Trinity Place, named C’era Una Volta – “Once Upon a Time.” Other works include a 20-seat marble table, seven-foot glass bollards with sculptures inside, and a nine-foot marble dove.
The one-acre piazza will serve as an outdoor walkway between Market and Mission streets, right next to a 1,900-unit apartment complex.
Owned by San Francisco real estate developer Trinity Properties and opened in 2010, Trinity Place is comprised of four high-rise apartment buildings and 65,000 sf of planned retail space. The development is located in the city’s Mid-Market area, which houses tech giants like Uber, Twitter, and Square.
.jpg)
Click image to enlarge.
Related Stories
| Dec 7, 2010
Blue is the future of green design
Blue design creates places that are not just neutral, but actually add back to the world and is the future of sustainable design and architecture, according to an interview with Paul Eagle, managing director of Perkins+Will, New York; and Janice Barnes, principal at the firm and global discipline leader for planning and strategies.
| Dec 7, 2010
Prospects for multifamily sector improve greatly
The multifamily sector is showing signs of a real recovery, with nearly 22,000 new apartment units delivered to the market. Net absorption in the third quarter surged by 94,000 units, dropping the national vacancy rate from 7.8% to 7.1%, one of the largest quarterly drops on record, and rents increased for the second quarter in a row.
| Dec 7, 2010
Hot rumor: Norman Foster designing Apple’s new campus
Lord Norman Foster, reportedly has been selected to design Apple’s new campus in Cupertino, Calif. If the news is true, Foster is a good match for Apple say experts. Foster built his celebrity by marrying big gestures to technological wizardry. And, unlike some starchitects, he has glommed onto the environmental revolution—something Apple has made a point of embracing, too.
| Dec 7, 2010
10 megacities of the near future
With Beijing, Shanghai, and Mumbai already on the global radar, where can the next wave of construction be found? Far beyond China, India, and even Brazil it’s predicted. The world’s next future megacities could include Istanbul, Turkey; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Khartoum, Sudan, among others. Read about these emerging and little-known behemoths.
| Dec 7, 2010
Product of the Week: Petersen Aluminum’s column covers used in IBM’S new offices
IBM’s new offices at Dulles Station West in Herndon, Va., utilized Petersen’s PAC-1000 F Flush Series column covers. The columns are within the office’s Mobility Area, which is designed for a mobile workforce looking for quick in-and-out work space. The majority of workspaces in the office are unassigned and intended to be used on a temporary basis.
| Dec 6, 2010
Honeywell survey
Rising energy costs and a tough economic climate have forced the nation’s school districts to defer facility maintenance and delay construction projects, but they have also encouraged districts to pursue green initiatives, according to Honeywell’s second annual “School Energy and Environment Survey.”
| Dec 2, 2010
GKV Architects wins best guest room design award for Park Hyatt Istanbul
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects, PC won the prestigious Gold Key Award for Excellence in Hospitality Design for best guest room, Park Hyatt Macka Palas, Istanbul, Turkey. Park Hyatt Maçka Palace marries historic and exotic elements with modern and luxurious, creating a unique space perpetuating Istanbul’s current culture. In addition to the façade restoration, GKV Architects designed 85 guestrooms, five penthouse suites, an ultra-hip rooftop bar, and a first-of-its-kind for Istanbul – a steakhouse, for the luxury hotel.
| Nov 29, 2010
Data Centers: Keeping Energy, Security in Check
Power consumption for data centers doubled from 2000 and 2006, and it is anticipated to double again by 2011, making these mission-critical facilities the nation’s largest commercial user of electric power. Major technology companies, notably Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, and International Business Machines, are investing heavily in new data centers. HP, which acquired technology services provider EDS in 2008, announced in June that it would be closing many of its older data centers and would be building new, more highly optimized centers around the world.
| Nov 29, 2010
Renovating for Sustainability
Motivated by the prospect of increased property values, reduced utility bills, and an interest in jumping on the sustainability bandwagon, a noted upturn in green building upgrades is helping designers and real estate developers stay busy while waiting for the economy to recover. In fact, many of the larger property management outfits have set up teams to undertake projects seeking LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EBOM, also referred to as LEED-EB), a certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
