


Client: San Francisco Redevelopment Authority
Location: San Francisco, CA, United States
Completion date: 2015
Artwork budget: $161,000
Project Team
Industry Resource
Andrew Vrana, Joe Meppelink, Armando Arteaga
Metalab
Artist
Matthew Geller
Industry Resource
Strandberg Engineers
Industry Resource
Blumenthal Fabrication
Overview
Matthew Geller, Artist was commissioned by San Franscisco Redevelopment Authority for a project at the Hunter Point Shipyard development. Inspired by the WWII-era ship building structures in the bay, he created an assembly of components that consisted of a roof, three columns and a massive community swing suspended from three beams. The swing glides on four rods with universal joints with a sweeping view of the bay bridge in the distance. Metalab provided design optimization and construction management for this whimsical structure with structural engineering provided by Strandberg Engineers in California.
Process
The structure was fabricated in Houston by Blumenthal Sheet Metal, hot dip galvanized and shipped to SF as a series of large assemblies to be erected in a few days on site. The waffle-grid roof is parametrically designed to minimize weight and material.