A long-awaited sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor has been unveiled at a prominent street corner in Lower Manhattan, New York. The large curvaceous, reflective sculpture, which remains untitled, stands at 19 feet tall at its highest point and is estimated to have cost between $8 million and $10 million to create. The work shares many features with Kapoor’s iconic “Cloud Gate” sculpture in Chicago, colloquially known as “the bean”.
Unlike the freestanding Chicago sculpture, the new Tribeca bean appears wedged beneath the canopy of 56 Leonard, a luxury condominium building known as the “Jenga Tower”. The tower was designed by renowned Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron for real estate development firm Alexico Group, which also commissioned Kapoor’s sculpture. In 2016, Kapoor purchased a condo in the same building for $13.5 million.
The completion of Kapoor’s Tribeca bean was slowed by its technical complexity, delays from the construction slowdown following the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, and later from Covid-19. As a result, the sculpture sat partially finished for years, earning it the nickname “half bean”. However, the delays unintentionally created a buzz around the sculpture, which has been unveiled in the heart of New York’s gallery district, making it a popular destination for art enthusiasts and a selfie hotspot.
The fabrication of the sculpture was undertaken by Performance Structures, who explained that the Tribeca bean differs from “Cloud Gate” both in its assembly and installation. The Leonard Street sculpture was built to have nearly invisible hairline cracks between the tightly fit precision components, while “Cloud Gate” has a single large support frame. Each slice of the Tribeca bean has its individual support frame, and the support frames for the bottom slices are bolted to the plaza, while the slices themselves are suspended by means of cables.
The entire sculpture is suspended with a system of cables and spring members so that it can move slightly with changes of temperature and wind and snow loads. Despite its delays and technical challenges, the completed sculpture is a visually striking addition to the New York cityscape, attracting art lovers and tourists alike.
