Artist James M. Harrison stands next to a model of his "Sun Pavilion" in front of the area where construction workers were installing the framing at Burien Town Square.

Friday (Mar. 6th) on SW 152nd at Burien Town Square, construction workers started installing the steel framing for “Sun Pavilion” (aka “Helios Pavilion”), a 30-foot tall sculpture by Northwest artist James M. Harrison.

Harrison’s artwork is being built between the new City Hall and the Burien Town Square buildings, and is a giant steel “basket” that can be entered; a woven sculpture. He hopes the piece will look good against the skyline, the mountains, the existing buildings, and the long western sun.

One of the more interesting aspects of this sculpture are elements toward the top that denotes “a straight line from Mt. Rainier through Burien and continue it, it crosses through the site of the old Bering Land Bridge- the migration route to the Americas.”

According to Harrison’s website:

My work as an artist involves exploring the realm between sculpture and architecture.

I am fascinated by the seemingly simple act of how to build things – and I am an experimentalist at heart.

I like to make light beacons and towers and other repositories of myths.

My passion is building large strange things, and I consider making sculpture a way to study the world.

Here are some other photos of both the installation work as well a model of the sculpture: