Hooman Mehdizadehjafari, MFA—an architect and public artist—developed the concept for this approximately 4.8-meter (16-foot) tall, 2-ton stainless steel sculpture on the Bates Technical College campus.
The sculpture is located in a region with a high risk of earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. Using RFEM, it was possible to create the geometry exactly as the artist had envisioned—including the “leaf-shaped” geometry. The openings are located in areas with the highest stresses, which made the analysis challenging.
Various loads were taken into account, such as self-weight, wind, and seismic loads. Stability analyses and design checks were performed according to IBC, ASCE 7, and AISC 360. The excellent visualizations in RFEM 6 also helped explain to the artist where the highest stress concentrations occurred, allowing the geometry to be adjusted accordingly.
| Location | 1101 South Yakima Avenue Tacoma, 1101 S Yakima Ave, Tacoma, WA 98405, USA |
| Artist | Hooman Mehdizadehjafari |
| Concept and Structural Design | Bates Technical College Moses Structural Engineers Inc |
