Client

Overview

From concept to completion in just five weeks: with just over a month before the annual return of thousands to Burning Man in Black Rock City, the concept of a 30-foot tall fork weighing 4500 pounds seemingly stuck in the ground and standing up in the air was brought to JunoWorks and CRAFT. The installation was intended to represent a critical moment in life where one comes to a crossroads and has to make a decision. The piece, built from hot-dipped galvanized plate steel, went on to installation at Tesla AI Day in Palo Alto.

Goals

With a tight timeline to develop the engineered design, acquire material, fabricate the sculpture, and ship to the project site, rapid and efficient collaboration of the team members was critical.

Process

A parametric solid element model was developed to determine the proportions of the custom fabricated plate box column sculpture, the plate thickness required for acceptable performance, and steel beam base. Key considerations for the design included the need for quick installation and strike onsite with minimal heavy equipment and limitations on the shipping dimensions. The design team was able to share 3D models to rapidly determine appropriate sizing and proportions, develop laser cut files for the plates, and fabricate in time for the site team to execute installation.