A 200 foot high möbius strip soars above Arena Green Park adjacent to downtown San Jose. Click on image for a larger view.
Blue Möbius
©Stuart Williams 2020. All rights reserved.
Urban Confluence, San Jose, California
PROPOSAL Submitted to Global Competition
©Stuart Williams 2020. All rights reserved.
Urban Confluence, San Jose, California
PROPOSAL Submitted to Global Competition
A monumental sculptural structure — a streamlined loop with a single twist — soars 60 meters (200 feet) above Arena Green Park. It takes the form of the mind-bending mathematical object known as a Möbius strip (or Möbius loop). Its unique topology has just one continuous side, conjuring up notions of the infinite, and inspiring a sense of the boundless possibilities of science to expand knowledge. On-site venues offer programing and conferences reimagining technology and strategies to advance the physical and social wellness of humanity to build an increasingly equitable and environmentally sustainable world. With its towering scale, sleek graphic form, and animated nightly illumination, Blue Möbius is spectacularly visible from the park, from downtown San Jose, Highway 87 and Interstate-280. I offer it as a ground-breaking idea for an iconic world-class landmark spotlighting the spirit of innovation of Silicon Valley.
“A Möbius strip defies our prejudices about what is intuitive, and has curious mathematical properties that have expanded knowledge. Its greatest application, by far, has been to stimulate us to imagine beyond the space in which we live.” — Francisco Doménech, Möbius and Impossible Objects
“Blue Möbius” is dramatically visible from Highway 87 and from downtown San Jose. Click on image for a larger view.
With its blue color alluding to our blue planet… Earth, and its unique topology — with just one continuous looping side — Blue Möbius speaks symbolically to the paramount importance of renewable energy, recycling and environmentally attuned technologies. At night it comes alive with a solar-powered array of LED lights that animate its captivating form. Programmable and infinitely flexible, the energy-efficient, adjustable-brightness lighting system can display unlimited kinetic patterns of light, text and/or imagery along its curving, soaring surface.
“The Möbius strip (with just one continuous side) has fascinated environmentalists, artists, engineers and mathematicians ever since its discovery in 1858 by German mathematician, August Möbius.”
— David & Richard Gunderman, Smithsonian Magazine
— David & Richard Gunderman, Smithsonian Magazine
“The topology of a Möbius strip makes it a rare representation of the infinite.”
— Christopher Williams, Brilliant.org
— Christopher Williams, Brilliant.org
