RISE | |
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Artist |
|
Year | 2011 |
Type | Steel |
Dimensions | 37.5 m × 30 m (123 ft × 98 ft) |
Location | Belfast, 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]