An architectural sculpture made out of black concrete has quickly become a focal point in Midtown Atlanta. The 33-foot-high sculpture titled Stealth took more than two years to complete. The base of the sculpture is designed as benches to invite people to use the plaza as a meeting place.
Tristan Al-Haddad, award-winning designer and owner of Formations Studio, designed the sculpture and built the formwork. “The piece is working with a renaissance technique of anamorphic projection of a two-dimensional figure from a station point back out into space,” says Al-Haddad.
The project required 52 cubic yards of concrete and eight tons of rebar. Each rod had to be hand-cut, bent, and placed precisely to allow proper coverage. The foundation and the sculpture weigh more than 200,000 pounds and covers 1,600 square feet.
Jason Adams, president of Sinclair Construction Group, said his team poured three cubic yards of concrete at a time to guarantee color match.
“It was really interesting once we got to the top. We had an inch-and-a-half opening to pour the concrete in those last 4 feet,” says Adams. “So we built little chutes to help funnel the concrete in, and it was just wide enough for us to fit a 1-inch vibrator head in.”
The formwork was built from three layers of 1/4-inch bent marine-grade plywood. The assembly process is similar to building a boat. The plywood face was then sanded and filled with gypsum, sealed, and urethaned to give it a smooth surface.
Forta Ferro macrofibers provided extra strength to the tight edges where rebar could not be placed. “The quality of that fiber and how it finishes is second to none. I really think that’s the best fiber on the market,” says Adams.
Onsite construction took about four months. The Stealth project was completed in October 2015.
Stealth won ACI Georgia 1st Place Award along with being nominated for the ACI National Award, and first place in the ASCC Decorative Concrete Council awards under 5,000 square feet.
