Grön eld, Umeå, Glass sculpture at Järnvägstorget, Umeå, Sweden
Grön eld is a glass sculpture at Järnvägstorget in front of Umeå Central Station, made of three thousand nine-millimeter glass plates fused together. The three tall pillars taper toward their peaks, creating the appearance of intertwined flames in transparent form.
The sculpture was completed in 1970 and held the record for being the world's largest glass work at that time. Swedish artist Vicke Lindstrand designed this nine-meter-tall installation as a monumental piece for the station plaza.
The work was commissioned by Sven Wallander, head of the HSB housing association, after he saw Vicke Lindstrand's glass sculpture Prisma in Norrköping. HSB's art fund paid for the sculpture and Umeå municipality funded the foundation; the city now owns it. Its name, Green Fire, refers to the three twisted glass columns that taper like flames.
The sculpture stands in an open public plaza in front of the railway station and is free to visit any time. It is designed to withstand the northern climate and remains accessible throughout the year.
In December 2013, Lennart Johansson, who assembled the sculpture in 1970, told the press he had mounted an image of Mao Zedong inside one of the flames during construction. The image is still there, hidden in the glass.
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