A BILLOWING SCULPTURE BRIGHTENS UP BOSTON

Janet Echelman Boston
Janet Echelman’s new Boston sculpture hangs between several skyscrapers.
High above the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, a massive knotted-fiber sculpture by ADInnovator Janet Echelman billows in the breeze. The work is an impressive feat of engineering—over 100 miles of colorful rope was hand-spliced and knotted into half a million nodes. And while the piece looks delicate and airy, it weighs in at one ton, with each structural rope supporting the net having 15 times the strength of steel.
Sculpture at night
The sculpture illuminated at night.
Echelman wanted the piece, which is titled As If It Were Already Here, to reflect the history of its location. The three voids in the sculpture are a subtle nod to the three hills of Boston, which were razed in the 18th century to extend land into the harbor. And the netting’s bands of color refer to the six-lane highway that was converted into the pedestrian-friendly Rose Kennedy Greenway.

For more information visit rosekennedygreenway.org.