Focus on Pod (sculpture) and explore the Description.
Pod was designed by native Portland resident Pete Beeman as a public art project for the Portland Streetcar. According to Beeman and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the modern sculpture is designed to represent the "infrastructure, energy, and vibrancy of Portland". Of the work's design, Beeman said:I was thinking about how Portland is designed and planned and built, and how the planning and infrastructure of Portland is really important in what makes Portland great. I was thinking of the static tripod as the infrastructure. The moving part was the vibrancy and life. ... The most interesting part of the sculpture will be watching people try to move it.
Pod is constructed from stainless steel, galvanized steel, bronze, titanium, lead, plastic and rubber. The 30-foot (9.1 m) sculpture is supported by its static tripod base with a 14- to 15-foot diameter. Each of the three "legs," cut to size by BBC Steel, stand 14 feet (4.3 m) tall and are grounded by two cubic yards (1.5 m3) of concrete. The central pendulum structure consists of 73 titanium rods; each of these connects to a "star fruit"-shaped bronze bulb at the base of the pendulum. Pod was fabricated by Beeman and David Bermudez, and engineered by Beeman and Peterson Structural Engineers. The work is considered interactive and kinetic; the central, vertical pendulum swings back and forth when pushed. The upper and lower parts of the pendulum "swing and flex in different rhythms, affecting each other" until returning to a resting position. Pod cost $40,000–$50,000 and was funded by the Portland Streetcar Project.
kinetic Regional Arts & Culture Council tripod bronze sculpture concrete Portland Streetcar rubber Pete Beeman plastic titanium interactive stainless steel public art pendulum modern lead galvanized steel