The Cloud Gate (or The Bean as called by the public), is a bean-shaped stainless steel sculpture located in the AT&T Plaza of Millennium Park, a famous sight in Chicago, USA. Designed by the Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, it is also his first public artwork in USA, which has brought his talent to the sight of the public and won him international reputation somehow. After this work, he has taken over more public artworks, but we will focus on this one, his most representative public art piece.
Cloud Gate is one of the largest permanent outdoor installations all over the world. It measures 33 feet high, 66 feet long, and 42 feet wide, weighing 110 tons (equivalent to the weight of 15 adult elephants). A 12-foot-high arch serves as a gate and invites visitors into the curved chamber beneath. This gigantic sculpture is constructed by welding together 168 stainless steel plates. Each stainless steel plate is uniform in thickness, 10mm despite different lengths and widths. The weight of each stainless steel plate ranges from 450KG to 910KG. The designer Anish aimed to achieve seamless surface, which was then regarded impossible by the famous architect Norman Foster. The big challenge was then overcome by the teamwork of some famous companies like Atelier, Performance Structures, Inc. and MTH Industries. They welded the stainless steel plates which dimensions were precisely calculated without extra work of cutting. After welding, the finish was too highly polished to visibly see any seams.
Inspired by liquid mercury, the Cloud Gate is wholly made of stainless steel exteriorly, while the interior is largely made of wood. With a design service life of 1000 years, stainless steel type 316/316L is chosen as the raw material for its excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical prosperities. As introduced in previous articles, stainless steel 316L is increasingly seen applied in the world famous architectures and statues. The comprehensive performance of 316/316L is superior, however, another factor contributing to the selection of the material is the advanced melting methods and thus the declined cost of the raw material, like 316/316L stainless steel plates in this case.
Stainless steel in China, with a decade development and more brands participating in this sector, has better quality and lowered cost. At Civmats, we stock famous brands stainless steel coils, which can be split to stainless steel small coils or stainless steel strips readily. Alternatively, cut-to-length stainless steel sheet plates are also available through leveling of these stainless steel coils. Meanwhile, we can further customize the finish into No.4, hairline, mirror (8K), patterns (checkered plates) as per your specific demands.
