Dipoli's Artichoke Sculpture

We used to think it opened with the sun. This giant stainless steel "artichoke" is a sculpture outside of Dipoli Conference Center at Helsinki University of Technology. It usually sits in a closed position but occasionally blossoms.

Turns out, the sculpture opens with the push of a button. Maybe there were just more people out on sunny days to push the button. It always seemed to us the thing opened for the sun and we still associate it with high-tech solar power sensors.

Comments (4)

There's a sculpture in Buenos Aires that opens and closes every morning and dusk automatically. Here are some pics I found on flickr.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/70045644/

posted by dorothy on June 25th 2007 at 8:15am
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UUUUUGGGGLLLLYYYYYYY !!!!!!!!

posted by ziiip on June 25th 2007 at 9:39am
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No, it's not ugly. I've been there in person, and while the building is a little odd, the site is quite lovely and the building has some great details. It's very Finnish.

posted by colellis on June 25th 2007 at 9:55am
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Wow, I actually really like it.

posted by Samantha S on June 25th 2007 at 10:23am
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