5 November 2001
World's Largest Unfolding Arch To Form Centerpiece Of Winter Olympics' Medal Plaza
(New York)- World renowned inventor and toy designer Chuck Hoberman has been commissioned to design the centerpiece of the Medals Plaza for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, 2002. Hoberman Associates have teamed up with structural engineers Buro Happold PC to engineer The Hoberman Arch, a semi-circular structure of aluminum latticework backed by transluscent fibre-reinforced polycarbonate panels. The Arch is the world¡¦s largest unfolding structure measuring 35 ft tall and 70 ft in diameter and will provide the focal point of the medal presentation platform. It will open the nightly medals ceremony by geometrically retracting in shape and size to form a compact 6 ft thick semi-circular ring that frames the stage. Ninety-six aluminum panels will spiral outwards and upwards in a radial motion to reveal the stage behind. The unfurling of this massive screen will provide an artistically engineered performance for an estimated audience of more than 3.5 billion people in Salt Lake City and in countries across the world.
Regarding the commission, Hoberman said: "The conceptual design of the Arch pioneers the overlap between mechanical and structural understanding as it is both a mobile mechanism and load¡Vresisting structure. The final design is successful as it incorporates members as both operable machinery and load-carrying components. The main struts, for example, that provide both the operational geometric symmetry and mechanical impulse, also provide the required strength to carry panel loads. In much the same way, the tension cables both pull the screen open and support the structural weight."
The Arch comprises 96 panels, each approximately 9 ft x 5 ft with 3-pinned joints. The primary members comprise 4 x 4 in aluminum box sections which form the rigid elements of the unfolding mechanism. To enable retraction to occur each beam type is offset in depth to form a layered system with each successive ring of panels being laid on top of the previous ring. The beams that face out towards the audience are clad to form a skin.
Secondary framing provides the outline for the panel to which the sheathing or skin is applied, the largest of these panels is 7 x 7 ft. In its extended state it forms a ¡§lamella¡¨ structure whose members display a pattern of interlocking spirals.
While Hoberman is famous for his award-winning toy globes, the Hoberman Sphere and Mini Sphere which expand and contract, the Arch is far from the first large scale retractable structure that he has designed. In 2000 Hoberman designed a retractable dome for EXPO 2000 ¡V the World's Fair in Hanover, Germany - and he has also designed several 18 ft expanding and contracting spheres which appear in museums around the world and in the atrium of Royal Carribeans 'Cruise Lines' largest ship Explorer of the Seas. But the Arch is his largest transforming structure and as a result Hoberman Associates decided to collaborate closely with Buro Happold's engineers to devise a structural system that could provide the strength and support for the screen parts to unfold individually in independent directions.
The Arch's complex geometry, unusual load conditions and size required Buro Happold to develop a unique support system to resist forces caused by wind and structural weight. Tension cables attach at the center of the semi-circle and primarily sustain the screen self-weight. Cable sheaves pull the weight to an independent steel arch structure and this steel arch also supports the loads generated by the guided slots in the outer screen panel. At the base of the Arch the lowermost panels run along a sliding track which enables the complete system to retract and also partially supports the vertical and horizontal loads.
Buro Happold have used 3-D modeling techniques to run trial simulations of its structural performance to understand the Arch¡¦s systemic behavior under specific loading and support conditions.
Fabrication of the Arch's components has now commenced and it will be ready for testing in December.
Hoberman Associates
Chuck Hoberman has won numerous awards for his achievements in art and engineering including the 1997 Chrysler Award for Design Innovation. He was also named a finalist last fall in the category of product design in the first Annual Design awards given by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. It was the large sphere sculptures that led Hoberman to discover his other passion – toys. Along with his wife Carolyn, Hoberman founded a toy company Hoberman Designs, Inc in 1995 to produce toys based on Hoberman’s patented large-scale unfolding structures. Based in New York, their latest product is the Expandagon Construction System, a building toy that allows kids to follow in Hoberman’s path and build their own transforming creations.
Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, PC
Press office and practice information:
Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers with over 500 technical staff located in 12 offices internationally. Buro Happold has been working across the US for the past 20 years. A long association with the architectural firm Future Tents Inc led to the formation in 1992 of FTL-Happold to produce designs for specialized structural systems. In 1998 increasing demand to provide structural solutions for a wider range of building types and design challenges resulted in the establishment of Buro Happold Inc and the opening of its first US office in New York. The US office provides core services of structural engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering and long span and lightweight structures together with specialist consultancy in sustainable design, fire engineering, access (ADA) consultancy, façade consultancy and information technology and communications.
CREDIT LIST
Design: Hoberman Associates, Inc:
Chuck Hoberman: designer
Matt Davis: project engineer
Structural Engineers: Buro Happold Consulting Engineers
Angus Palmer, Cristobal Correa, Sarrah Khan
Fabricators:Scenic Technologies, New Windsor, NY
Mechanical Consultant: Erich Blohm Engineering, New York, NY
Stage Design: Hasbas Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA
