"Almost lost and nearly forgotten, a sculpture by one of the most noted mid-century modernist designers has been given a meticulous restoration and a starring place in the new headquarters of General Motors in downtown Detroit. Designed by artist Harry Bertoia and first installed in 1970, the sculpture is made of two clusters of long steel wires intertwined like twigs in a bird's nest."
"The sculpture was originally commissioned as decoration outside a J.L. Hudson's department store at the Genesee Valley Center in Flint, Michigan, which opened in 1970. Bertoia, an Italian-born artist who moved to Detroit in 1930 at the age of 15, designed the sculpture using simple steel rods that were coated in melted brass, bronze, and other metal alloys. Most famous for his furniture design work for Knoll Associates, Bertoia also had a long career as a sculptor, creating mainly metal-based works."
Harry Bertoia's nest-like sculpture, created in 1970 from two clusters of long steel wires, measures 26 feet tall and is coated in brass, bronze, and other metal alloys. The sculpture now hangs in the atrium of GM's new 12-story mixed-use global headquarters in downtown Detroit after a meticulous restoration funded by GM. The piece was originally commissioned for a J.L. Hudson's at Genesee Valley Center in Flint and was removed in 1980, later stored and forgotten in the basement of Northland Center. Bertoia, famed for mid-century furniture for Knoll and metal sculpture, first worked with GM in 1953.
Read at Fast Company
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