Vessel, The Interactive Climbable Copper Sculpture Centerpiece at Hudson Yards Is Close to Completion

In 2016 we wrote about the plan to create Vessel, a beautiful climbable honeycomb centerpiece made of stairways created by Thomas Heatherwick, for the new Hudson Yards Public Square and Gardens, which is scheduled to open in 2019. Scott recently took an amazing photo of this beautiful sculpture, which is nearing completion.

Influenced by Indian stepwells, made from hundreds of flights of stairs going down into the ground, the dramatic design of Vessel creates a stage set for New Yorkers and visitors from around the world: a geometric lattice of intersecting flights of stairs, whose form rises from a base that is 50 feet in diameter and widens at the top to 150 feet. It is constructed of a structural painted steel frame, its underside surfaces covered by a polished copper-colored steel skin.

He also captured a fabulous shot of Vessel alongside The Shed, a modern multi-arts center that runs alongside the Public Square.

Opening in spring 2019, The Shed will be New York’s first multi-arts center designed to commission, produce, and present all types of performing arts, visual arts, and popular culture. Driven by experimentation, innovation, and collaboration, The Shed will be a center for artistic invention bringing together leading artists working in every art form with leading minds in the humanities and sciences.

photos by Scott Beale