Pacific Flyway - Kinetic Sculpture Design for Step Up King City

As my proposal for the Step Up King City project, I have designed this stainless steel wind sculpture, which would have a total height of 18 feet. It’s designed to be extremely responsive to wind currents and to move in the slightest breeze.

The form and motion of the sculpture are overarchingly about lightness, from the lower horizontal section giving the impression of floating, to the graceful curves arching upwards, and suggesting impressions of birds, both on the water and in flight.

The height of the sculpture, drawing the gaze upwards, is meant to add to the parallels with birds and flight. It also serves symbolically to turn your gaze upwards, as in human aspirations, imagining and reaching for higher things, which I think is apropos of this project.

The upper moving elements likewise are inspired by feathers and wings.

The environment of this rendering is based on the existing tree lined corner area of the site on San Antonio Drive, realizing that the landscaping will be reshaped and redesigned. I just wanted to picture something close to what the final environment will be.

The lower section of the sculpture is obviously plain and minimal, as I want this section to be as unobtrusive as possible and concentrate attention upwards on the fully sculptural forms.

I have been making kinetic outdoor wind sculptures since the 1990’s and have designed them to last and not require any maintenance for decades. The metal and finish tend not to show dust or dirt, much of which is kept to a minimum by rain and wind, and this never really needs cleaning. This will be entirely in stainless steel down to every single component of the ball bearings, shafts, etc. The delicate motion is the result of very finely balancing the moving elements and using extremely high quality bearings and exact machining. All of which is virtually unaffected by wear or weather. Because of all this the shapes are likely to continue to move and look good for many decades.
About the title:

The title comes from researching birds, especially wading and waterfowl, of the San Joaquin Valley, where I’m from. I was tempted to name this after a particular bird like a cormorant or an egret, but really there are elements of the many birds that pass through the ‘flyway’ which is simply the huge corridor of migration along the Pacific coast.

Видео Pacific Flyway - Kinetic Sculpture Design for Step Up King City канала EricPeltzerSculpture