Elia is a sculpture created by Ingvar Cronhammar (1947–2021) in Herning, Denmark. It is a large, spherical dome with four columns reaching 32m (105feet). The dome itself has a diameter of 60m (200feet). A large tube located in the center of the sculpture randomly blasts flames 8m (26feet) into the air, for about 25 seconds at a time. These random bursts can occur anytime in periods of about two months and will not occur if it is too windy or if people are too close. The work was inaugurated in September 2001 and cost 23 million Danish krone.[1]
On 30 October 2016 a 21-year-old man died by falling down the center.[2] 2 months later, on 29 December 2016, a woman died the same way, purportedly committing suicide by jumping into the centre chamber.[3] This ultimately resulted in the sculpture getting a safety net installed. In connection with the installation of the net, an installer fell several meters down and subsequently had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.[4] On 23 March 2021, a 46-year-old man died in one of the four steel pipes while performing maintenance on the sculpture.[5]
The sculpture has the following dimensions and material use:[6]
| Measure | Meter | |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter at ground level | 60.00 | |
| Height above ground level (pillars) | 32.00 | |
| Height to upper platform | 11.22 | |
| Radius in the steel dome | 42.00 | |
| Radius at bottom | 110.8 | |
| Staircase width | 10.00 | |
| Step height | 0.34 |
| Materials | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Steel sheeting | 270 t | |
| Structural steel | 80 t | |
| Steel pillars | 30 t | |
| Concrete | 250 m³ | |
| Asphalt | 300 t | |
| Reinforcement steel | 15 t | |
| Volume of earth excavated | 7,000 m³ | |
| Terrain regulation | 20,000 m³ earth |