RISE (sculpture)

RISE is a concept £400,000 public art spherical metal sculpture in Belfast by Wolfgang Buttress. It is 37.5 metres (123 ft) high and 30 metres (98 ft) wide and was constructed in early 2011 in the centre of the Broadway roundabout, at the junction of the Westlink and M1 motorway, a main gateway to the city where (as of 2009) more than 80,000 cars on average flow past it each day. It is informally known as The Balls on the Falls as this junction also gives access to the Falls Road area via Broadway.

RISE is visible for miles around the city. The area is part of a multimillion-pound road improvement programme. It is the biggest public art sculpture in Belfast. Work on RISE was due to begin in August 2009 and end in October 2009, however due to delays the completion date was changed to March 2011. It was finally completed in September 2011, nearly two years behind the original schedule. When completed it became Belfast's largest public artwork.

Construction

The globe-shaped, white and silver steel sculpture is a representation of a new sun rising to celebrate a new chapter in the history of Belfast.

The sculptor encouraged input from local people living near the landmark sculpture. He held creative workshops with groups from the Donegall Road and St James' areas of Belfast.

Belfast City Council coordinated the plans for the new sculpture with strong support and funding from the Department for Social Development (Regeneration Directorate) and the National Lottery, through the Big Lottery Fund, through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland as well as advice and assistance from Department for Regional Development Roads Service.

Construction of the piece was challenging. It was made by local steel company M Hasson and Sons Ltd in Rasharkin.

Structure

The artwork is made of two geodesic spheres supported on slender stanchions. The engineers, Price & Myers, made extensive use of the work done by Buckminster Fuller in the 1950s. The outer sphere has a geodesic frequency of 8. It required 1920 tubes to be bolted together. Tensigrity – another concept developed by Buckminster Fuller – is used to hold the inner sphere in position.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISE_(sculpture)