Sculpture Needle Tower by Kenneth Snelson (Washington, D.C.)

 art -(to be removed, see EN descr.), sculpture, interesting place

Soaring high tower of stainless steel ---closer inspection shows that none of the beams are directly connected to one-another (instead, tight cables connect the pipes). Artist Kenneth Snelson's seemingly-magical engineering with "tensegrity" techniques keeps the spire upright in defiance of gravity. Seen from directly underneath and looking up there is another surprise: scores of concentric "star of David" shapes formed by the intersecting cables and struts.


Photo use note: Photograph of Kenneth Snelson's Needle Tower (1968), currently housed at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Fair use rationale: This image illustrates the discontinuous compression member property of tensegrity structures and this property is considered to be the distinguishing and representative feature of a large proportion of Kenneth Snelson's body of work. Illustrating this work contributes to understanding of tensegrity structures and the significance of Snelson's work in 20th century sculpture. Photo url : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Needle_Tower.JPG