Engineering prize goes to artwork for the first time

A landmark piece of public art on a Belfast roundabout has become the first sculpture to have won a major engineering prize. The judges of the Institution of Structural Engineers’ Structural Awards said of RISE, the winning entry, by artist Wolfgang Buttress: “Pure sculptural structures are amongst the most difficult to achieve successfully, as everything is on view, and will be scrutinised down to the finest detail.” RISE is made up of two geodesic spheres and represents sunrise over west Belfast. Though listed in the awards’ Small Projects category by virtue of its relatively low cost, it comprises more than 65,000 individual parts, measures 30 metres in diameter and weighs the equivalent of six double-decker buses. At 37.5 metres tall, it is twice the height of Gateshead’s ‘Angel of the North’ and just 8.5 metres shorter than the Statue of Liberty. RISE cost £486,000, funded by £330,000 from Northern Ireland’s Department for Social Development, £100,000 from Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery funding and £56,000 from Belfast City Council.