flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Piazza in San Francisco will feature a 92-foot stainless steel statue

Building Team

Piazza in San Francisco will feature a 92-foot stainless steel statue

Made of 2,500 seamlessly-welded panels, Venus will be the centerpiece of a new public piazza containing other works of art.


By Mike Chamernik, Associate Editor | May 3, 2016
Piazza in San Francisco will feature a 92-foot stainless steel statue

The piazza at Trinity Place. Renderings courtesy Trinity Properties.

When it comes to physical size and aesthetics, the Statue of Liberty will soon have a West Coast counterpart.

Venus, a 92-foot stainless steel statue, will highlight a large public piazza in the middle of San Francisco’s Trinity Place.

Created by artist Lawrence Argent, Venus is a modern day interpretation of the Venus de Milo, the armless ancient Greek statue. Venus will be made of 2,500 stainless steel panels seamlessly welded together on site, and it will be unveiled this summer.

“The idea of replicating the Venus de Milo came from a classical idea – an icon – that has been revered and respected for centuries. Venus at Trinity Place became this whirling object manifesting like a genie in a bottle coming out of the ground,” Argent said in a statement.

For scale, Venus is a little shorter than New York’s Statue of Liberty, which stands 111.5 feet as measured from heel to crown.

Venus is part of a larger installation on the piazza at Trinity Place, named C’era Una Volta – “Once Upon a Time.” Other works include a 20-seat marble table, seven-foot glass bollards with sculptures inside, and a nine-foot marble dove.

The one-acre piazza will serve as an outdoor walkway between Market and Mission streets, right next to a 1,900-unit apartment complex.

Owned by San Francisco real estate developer Trinity Properties and opened in 2010, Trinity Place is comprised of four high-rise apartment buildings and 65,000 sf of planned retail space. The development is located in the city’s Mid-Market area, which houses tech giants like Uber, Twitter, and Square.

Click image to enlarge.

Related Stories

| Aug 10, 2022

Gresham Smith Founder, Batey M. Gresham Jr., passes at Age 88

It is with deep sadness that Gresham Smith announces the passing of Batey M. Gresham Jr., AIA—one of the firm’s founders.

Sponsored | | Aug 4, 2022

Brighter vistas: Next-gen tools drive sustainability toward net zero line

New technologies, innovations, and tools are opening doors for building teams interested in better and more socially responsible design. 

Multifamily Housing | Aug 3, 2022

7 tips for designing fitness studios in multifamily housing developments

Cortland’s Karl Smith, aka “Dr Fitness,” offers advice on how to design and operate new and renovated gyms in apartment communities.

Building Materials | Aug 3, 2022

Shawmut CEO Les Hiscoe on coping with a shaky supply chain in construction

BD+C's John Caulfield interviews Les Hiscoe, CEO of Shawmut Design and Construction, about how his firm keeps projects on schedule and budget in the face of shortages, delays, and price volatility.

Green | Jul 26, 2022

Climate tech startup BlocPower looks to electrify, decarbonize the nation's buildings

The New York-based climate technology company electrifies and decarbonizes buildings—more than 1,200 of them so far.

Building Team | Jul 25, 2022

First Ismaili Center in the U.S. combines Islamic design with Texas influences

Construction has begun on the first Ismaili Center in the U.S. in Houston. 

Building Team | Jul 20, 2022

San Francisco overtakes Tokyo as the world’s most expensive city for construction

San Francisco has overtaken Tokyo as the world’s most expensive city for construction, according to a new report from Turner & Townsend.

Libraries | Jul 20, 2022

Canada to open one of the world’s largest library and archive facilities

When it opens in 2026, Ādisōke is expected to be one of the largest library and archive facilities in the world. 

Energy-Efficient Design | Jul 19, 2022

All is not lost: 3 ways architects can respond to the Supreme Court’s EPA ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants dealt a significant blow to our ability to fight the climate crisis with federal policy.

Office Buildings | Jul 19, 2022

Austin adaptive reuse project transforms warehouse site into indoor-outdoor creative office building

Fifth and Tillery, an adaptive reuse project, has revitalized a post-industrial site in East Austin, Texas.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category


Giants 400

Top 75 Engineering Firms for 2023

Kimley-Horn, WSP, Tetra Tech, Langan, and IMEG head the rankings of the nation's largest engineering firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.



halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021