The Dragon Fly
Owner: City of Seattle
Architect: Portico Group
Location: West Seattle
Project Details:
The city of Seattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, along with the Public Utilities and Parks Department, sponsored a program to turn local watershed areas into public parks. For the major art piece, Haskell Corporation was contracted to fabricate and install a fifty foot dragonfly sculptural canopy for the center of the Dragonfly Pavilion, a public garden area with views of the watershed's rolling landscape. The sculpture depicts a dragonfly's contoured body with wings that are sectioned by curving pipe veins. The forming and welding to construct these shapes required a unique and creative approach to steel pipe fabrication. To meet cost constraints, Haskel assisted the project design team with practical constructability. Working with designers, Haskell was able to eliminate multiple welded joints from the design with creative fabrication practices, which also eliminated the potential for costly field welding. The finished product was coated with a high quality metallic coating, creating a beautiful bronze colored finish.