THE BLOOMS
1000 PETALS. 6 BLOOMS.
The Palm Beach Blooms project includes 6 large-scale Stainless Steel Dandelions in West Palm Beach Downtown. The intention behind these larger-than-life flowers was to create a landmark sculpture that was whimsical and breathtaking, having the ability to interact with pedestrians. These sentient flowers have motion sensors integrated within the sculpture. Certain locations within the corridor, trigger the flowers color arrays, exploding in marvelous colors. These Blooms have a duality, day and night that create completely different experiences.
These flowers are fabricated from 100% Marine Grade Stainless Steel with outdoor-rated lighting systems. Each flower consists of over 1,000 petals that are highly polished to refract the light source. They are designed to withstand all of the elements: wind, rain, salt as well as low to zero maintenance. As well as engineered to withstand CAT 5 / 200 MPH winds.
THE PROCESS
The Palm Beach Blooms are fabricated from Marine Grade Stainless Steel and designed to integrate state-of-the-art flood light systems to bring these flowers alive. Each flower head consists of over 1,000 petals and can weigh up to 700 lbs. Each Petal receives a mild polish to refract the powerful light source in the center of the Bloom.
Within the center of every bloom is a Color Kinetics Flood Light System. These lights are incredibly powerful and are IP Rated for the worst outdoor conditions. With these light sources, we are able to fully light the Blooms during the day as well as literally lighting the corridor at night.
This project was a rich collaboration of engineers, lighting artists, riggers, and more. The installation site for The Blooms was quite delicate so it was decided to install, we would have to use a 100 TON crane. To make things more difficult, the crane operator had to work blind, meaning he visibly could not see the site; Someone over the radio gave commands.
