Work on 56 Leonard Street‘s amorphous mirrored “bean” sculpture has begun. The artwork sits at the base of Tribeca‘s tallest residential skyscraper designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Hill West Architects, and is the work of Anish Kapoor, the creator behind Chicago’s chrome steel-plated Cloud Gate and the ArcelorMittal Orbit from the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Construction workers are beginning to place the first portions of the bean into position with multiple sections arriving on site.
Photos below show the activity at the site late last week.
The pieces of the bean delivered on site. Photo by Michael Young
The crane for the bean installation. Photo by Michael Young
Pieces arriving on site. Photo by Michael Young
The interior structural frame built up. Photo by Michael Young
The interior structural frame built up. Photo by Michael Young
The crane for the bean installation. Photo by Michael Young
The crane for the bean installation. Photo by Michael Young
The crane for the bean installation. Photo by Michael Young
Each orange peel-shaped piece is arriving tightly wrapped in a protective black plastic and being lifted with a telescopic crane onto the sidewalk. Meanwhile, a structural frame has been built underneath one of the cantilevering floor plates by the main lobby with a lightweight steel truss system that will form the interior support for the bean.
The bean will be wedged in between the sidewalk and the underside of the second story. It will be interesting to see how each piece will come together and form the appearance of a continuous surface. Placing the sculpture right on the sidewalk will make it especially conspicuous and hard to miss.
56 Leonard Street makes a prominent impression on the Lower Manhattan skyline thanks to its staggered and offset pattern of the cantilevered balconies. This visual effect is best seen looking north and south, while the east and west elevations make the glass and concrete edifice appear more straight and uniform.
56 Leonard Street looking north. Photo by Michael Young
56 Leonard Street looking west. Photo by Michael Young
No announcement has been made on when the installation process will be finished.
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Liking art can be subjected. This bulky suppository does not earn my admiration. Simply, this amorphous blob pollutes the base of an elegant building. What a waste of time, material and money. A missed opportunity.
Lordy, lordy.
A sculptural bean?
More like a Pet Rock on steroids
…and just as “artistic”.
What, no rice?
i spoke to the mtec installation crew on nov 13. they said no worries (brits), the issues with the bean seams have been fixed and it will look great. they had no eta on when it will be done though because its complicated. they install kapoor’s work exclusively these days and other large art work, which they showed me pics of. ie., their previous gig was installing massive sculptures on larry ellison’s maui estate.