ball nogues: cradle installation in santa monica

‘cradle’ on the wall of a santa monica parking structure (– originally designed by frank gehry)

LA-based collaborative design and fabrication studio ball nogues just finished their most recent public art proposal. the project consists of a sculpture situated on the exterior wall of an existing parking structure at santa monica place – originally designed by frank gehry – near the beach and third street promenade. the site is heavily trafficked by tourists on foot and in automobiles. named ‘cradle’, the permanent artwork was installed on tuesday, july 27, 2010. it measures 39 ft. wide and 36 ft. high.

the piece is an aggregation of mirror polished stainless steel spheres and operates structurally like an enormous newton’s cradle (the ubiquitous toy found on the desktops of corporate executives). each ball is suspended by a cable from a point on the wall and locked in position by a combination of gravity and neighboring balls.

time-lapse of ‘cradle’ installation 

detail of polished stainless steel spheres

through their work, benjamin ball (b. 1968, waterloo, iowa) and gaston nogues (b. 1968, buenos aires, argentina) explore the intersection of digital methods with physical reality.

stainless steel spheres

gaston nogues during installation’s assembly

stainless steel spheres

elevation courtesy ball and nogues

construction process

construction process

construction process

benjamin ball showing a tiny model of the formwork in front of the ‘cradle’ in santa monica under construction.

‘cradle’ model in the los angeles studio of ball and nogues image © designboom

designboom visited ball and nogues office in los angeles in june and assisted to preparations and the various steps of model making.

gaston nogues and the ‘cradle’ model image © designboom

‘cradle’ model and formwork for cradle image © designboom

detail of stainless steel spheres image © designboom

benjamin ball explains the production process during the making of the ‘cradle’ model image © designboom

welding – the actual production of the stainless steel spheres

inflating – the actual production of the stainless steel spheres

inflating – the actual production of the stainless steel spheres

credits:

principals in charge: benjamin ball, gaston nogues project manager and lead fabricator: james jones team: andrew lyon, tim peeters, will trossell custom software development: pylon technical structural engineer: buro happold, los angeles