By LESTER CHANG
Last year, Bay Apartment Communities promised to install substantial artwork outside its proposed Lawrence Expressway complex.
Last week, developers showed they mean to keep that promise--and then some.
The builders unveiled to the City Council Jan. 28 plans to install three boulders, artistically arranged, weighing 118,000 pounds.
Mayor Stan Kawczynski, who approved the art project, nonetheless lobbed criticism at the 709-unit complex, noting the boulders represent the "massiveness" of the high-density housing project planned for Lakeside Drive.
The $95,000 sculpture, designed by Oakland artist Steve Gillman, consists of three black granite boulders sliced down the middle. Each half-boulder will be placed on either side of a pathway, in descending order according to size.
The largest boulder weighs 50,000 pounds and measures 12 feet high. The second is 10 feet high and weighs 42,000 pounds. The third is 8 feet high and weighs about 20,000 pounds.
The council approved the art project by a 6-1 vote. Councilman Jack Walker, who cast the dissenting vote, said he didn't like the design.
When the council approved the apartment complex last year, it did so on the condition that a major piece of art would be placed on the 17-acre property.
Over the past eight years, some developers have challenged a city law imposing similar requirements for art on commercial projects.
Because of those concerns, the council is now considering whether to retain the ordinance.
Another sculpture on the property, weighing more than 20,000 pounds, will consist of a single granite boulder cut into three pieces and laid on the ground. A steel plate will stick out from the side of the boulder.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 5, 1997.
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