Custom Manufacture

How to spin 42 storeys?

Since the end of October 2014, 42 storeys have been spinning and attracting attention of all passers-by near the shopping centre Quadrio in Prague, not far from Národní třída. The moving statue bearing the face of Franz Kafka was constructed according to sketches by David Černý. The turning head enables viewers to watch Kafka's transformation live.

From the layman's point of view, the statue consists of a plinth and 42 storeys. However, from the engineer's point of view, there are 252 larger structural segments, almost a kilometre of cables, 1500 m2 of mirror-gloss stainless plate and more than 16 300 pieces of fasteners.  The design required creating a 3D model, whose volume of data is more than 20 GB. The model is drawn on 2039 technical drawings. The movement of the statue is ensured by 42 synchronous motors, which are supplied power from 21 motor modules.  Everything is controlled by the system Siemens Simotion P320.

The company NATE was addressed by the organizer and asked to participate in manufacturing of the support structure and to supply the spinning segments for the individual storeys of the statue. The exigence of our task consisted not only in the supply of the necessary parts but also in demand for their gradual delivering. Everything had to be delivered to the construction site in the centre of Prague at an agreed time in order to meet the deadline for completion of the statue. In close cooperation with the customer, we successfully accomplished this unusual task.

Author: David Černý
Customer: Czech Property Investments, a.s.
Project organizer: DEIMOS, s.r.o.