Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Sculptures at Fermilab

Several large pieces of sculpture designed by Dr. Robert Wilson, Fermilab's first director, are prominently placed around the Laboratory.
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The Mobius Strip is mounted in the midst of a circular pool atop Ramsey Auditorium. It is built of 3 x 5 inch pieces of stainless steel which were welded on a tubular form eight feet in diameter.


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Hyperbolic Obelisk stands at the foot of the reflecting pond in front of Wilson Hall. It is thirty-two feet high, fabricated of three stainless steel plates each one-quarter inch thick.

At the Pine Street entrance to Fermilab, Broken Symmetry straddles the road. This three-span arch, painted bright blue and orange, appears perfectly symmetric when viewed directly from below, but has carefully calculated asymmetry from its other views.





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Tractricious, designed by Wilson and constructed by members of the Technical Support Section, sits in front of the Industrial Complex. The structure is comprised of 16 stainless steel outer tubes, made from scrap cryostat tubes from Tevatron magnets, and 16 inner pipes from old well casings. Each tube is free standing and designed to withstand winds up to 80 mph.

Sculptures by Wilson are also displayed at Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital.


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