Blueprints at Addison Circle explained

Blueprints at Addison Circle
Artist:Michael Van Valkenburgh and Mel Chin
Year:2000
Type:steel
Height Imperial:43
Width Imperial:140
Metric Unit:m
Imperial Unit:ft
City:Addison, Texas

Blueprints at Addison Circle is a steel sculpture located in Addison, Texas officially unveiled on April 13, 2000.[1] It is one of approximately 20 works of public art throughout the town.[2]

Addison Circle and the surrounding area was built in 1997 to create a more traditional walkable urban town center;[3] [4] it is a 133adj=midNaNadj=mid roundabout. The sculpture inside the traffic circle consists of 25 poles and five panels. It weighs 410000lb and required 650USgal of custom "Sharpie blue" paint.[5] The work is more than 4 stories high and 140feet across. It was designed by artist Mel Chin in conjunction with landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh and with the aid of LeMessurier Consultants, and was fabricated and erected by Big D Metalworks of Dallas. The poles weighing 9000lb were made in Houston, Texas and the tapered cones at the top of the poles were made in New Jersey. Total cost for the sculpture was $2.1 million.[6] [4] The nighttime lighting was designed by Stephen Bernstein of Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design.[7]

The sculpture is said to resemble the branching pattern of a grove of oak trees. The panels follow a design using actual blueprints from Addison's municipal buildings, parks, bridges, and water pumping facilities. Of the work Chin said “I chose to represent in this the physical representation of blueprints, the infrastructure that you don’t see—and to celebrate the ideas floating above you.”[1]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 6 Ways to Absorb Addison, Texas' Arts and Culture. Hoda. Emam. Atlas Obscura.
  2. Web site: Addison is a small town big on public art. August 9, 2022. Dallas News . January 10, 2024.
  3. Web site: Addison Circle. February 2, 2023. SAH ARCHIPEDIA.
  4. News: Mel Chin and Michael Van Valkenburgh: Blueprints at Addison Circle, Addison, Texas . 5 January 2024 . . December 2000 . 14–15. Wikipedia Library (paywall).
  5. Web site: The "Blueprints" steel sculpture in Addison Circle, an urban park in Addison, Texas, a Dallas suburb. Library of Congress. 7 January 2024.
  6. News: Masterpiece of the month: 'Blueprints' at Addison Circle . 4 January 2024 . . 29 June 2015 . en.
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160058/http://www.archlighting.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=0&articleID=452791 Liao, Alice "Blueprint Special" Architectural Lighting Magazine, April 2, 2002