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More than Meets the Eye
The Vessel, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle

At first glance, the Vessel, an architectural sculpture by artist Ed Carpenter, looks much like a large glass and steel basket that spans four stories. But what passersby do not see is how much thought, design, engineering and labor went into crafting the structure, which is delicately lightweight and still extremely structurally stable. 

Located in the center of a traffic circle at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, two key considerations came into play when Carpenter began working on the design. First, since the location is above a tunnel that connects two buildings, the sculpture had to be lightweight. Second, because of the height of surrounding buildings, the sculpture also had to be tall.

Because of the structural requirements the materials used were also relatively light. This included laminated dichoric glass, beveled clear plate glass, aluminum and stainless steel. Flabeg and Fabricated Glass Specialties of Talent, Ore., were the glass suppliers. 

“My own crew of artists worked with me to do the installation,” says Carpenter, who adds that he and his crew typically do most of the installations.

“These are unique structures and no one has ever built anything like this before … every detail and aspect is custom designed so every single step qualifies [as a consideration] and nothing can be left to chance,” says Carpenter. “For instance, it’s one thing to design a structure like this, but then you’ve got to figure out how to actually build it. So part of the design challenge, which I enjoy, is keeping in mind how it will be erected.”

The installation was completed in July 2008. The Vessel stands 60-feet high and 39-feet wide.

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