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Jewel Peacock

Art Installation – Outdoor

Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi

The Jewel Peacock as an art installation for Ministry of External Affairs (New Delhi) represents the beautiful and intricate form of a peacock on the façade of a government building. The brief was to design a contemporary art piece, which has an Indian identity and represents the rich cultural heritage of our country. The art piece transforms the outdoor space by adding beauty and tactile quality to an otherwise functional office space. The challenge was to convert a 2D sketch of a peacock into a 3D form made in stainless steel that is 6-meter high and 4 tons in weight with hundreds of integrated parts. Therefore the process of crafting a peacock structure is a unique combination of intricate hand skills and elaborate design engineering.
The general perception about stainless steel is of a very tough industrial material. The application where it is largely used is also very industrial. Therefore the contrast of using a hard material and to represent a very delicate form like peacock was the design approach. Different textures and patterns have been applied on the stainless surfaces using hand crafting tools and processes. Extensive 3D planning and engineering was done to make sure all the different parts of the pieces are well integrated. No hardware or screws are visible from front.

The peacock structure consists of the upper body with wings and the lower body as the feather skirt. Each of these parts was further divided into smaller units. The challenge was to bend the stainless steel in an exact degree to match the overall curve of the skirt, therefore extensive research and testing was done on the material to achieve the seamless curve. Different parts of the peacock body and feathers are layered and integrated on stainless steel sheets attached to the load frame in the back. All parts are permanently welded to each other and have an U/V protection coating on the surface to protect it from weather conditions. Coding was done for each step in production and installation to engineer a perfectly integrated form. All the parts were individually assembled on site.

What we can achieve from hands, we can’t always achieve with machines. It also gave us the opportunity to work with local vendors in India who don’t have huge industrial set up but are extremely skilled with extensive knowledge about stainless steel as a material.

Keywords

Art Installation, Sculpture, Government, Peacock, Stainless Steel, Handcrafted, Technology, Engineered, Façade, Ministry of External Affairs, Patterns

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