RISE (sculpture)

RISE
Artist
  • Wolfgang Buttress
  • Engineers: Price & Myers
  • Contractor: GRAHAM Construction
  • Steel Fabricator: Hasson and Sons
Year2011
TypeSteel
Dimensions37.5 m × 30 m (123 ft × 98 ft)
LocationBelfast, Northern Ireland

RISE is the official name given to the public art sculpture located at Broadway Roundabout in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1] However, it has been given unofficial, colloquial titles such as the "Balls of the Falls", "the Testes on the Westes" and "the Westicles".[2] These names have been derived by both the sculpture's location on Broadway Junction (located above the A12 Westlink and in close proximity to the Falls Road)[3] and in reference to its shape made from two spherical, metal structures.[4]

The RISE sculpture was designed by Wolfgang Buttress and consists of a geodesic sphere suspended inside a larger, 30 m (98 ft) diameter sphere, standing at an overall height of 37.5 m (123 ft).[5] Geodesic refers to the shortest path between two points on a curve so that in the case of the RISE sculpture, adjacent connections on each of the spheres are connected using straight bars, thereby minimising the distance between two points.[5] At 30m wide and 37.5m tall, RISE is the biggest public art sculpture in Belfast.[6]

RISE was commissioned by Belfast City Council[1] and built in 2011[7] as part of a multimillion-pound road improvement programme.[8] It now sits atop of the A12 Westlink Underpass (a grade-separated junction) where, according to a 2009 Northern Ireland Assembly report, sees approximately 80,000 cars on average flow past it each day.[9]

  1. ^ a b "The Belfast Ball". Culture Northern Ireland. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  2. ^ "RISE sculpture in Belfast, Wolfgang Buttress Artwork locally known as the Balls on the Falls, The Westicles, or the Testes on the Westes". alamy. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. ^ "'Rise' Sculpture" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Sculpture is 'new icon' for Belfast". Belfast Telegraph. 26 December 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Rise, 2011, Belfast". Wolfgang Buttress. 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Rise Sculpture". Visit Belfast. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Police called to deal with man who scaled 40-metre high RISE sculpture in west Belfast". Belfast Telegraph. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  8. ^ "New landmark rises from rubble". BBC News. 13 November 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  9. ^ Written answers to questions: Official report (Hansard) (PDF) (Report). Vol. 76. Northern Ireland Assembly. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2015.