Button and Needle Sculpture – Pop Art Engineering

NYC’s iconic Button and Needle Sculpture received a Pop Art upgrade! Sitting on the corner of 39th Street and 7th Avenue, the new 28-foot-tall structure is comprised of a 15-foot diameter aluminum button and 32-foot brushed stainless-steel needle supported by three stainless steel pipe “threads”.

Replacing the previous Button kiosk structure, the redesign also serves to improve sight lines and enhance pedestrian flow at the plaza intersection. Developed by the Garment District Alliance and NYC Department of Transportation, the project’s design development and fabrication teams were led by UAP (Urban Art Projects) and included Technical Artistry Inc on lighting and Theta Consulting and McLaren Engineering Group on engineering.

Multi Divisional Sculpture Project

The Button and Needle Sculpture was a collaborative effort across McLaren divisions, working together to solve the project’s unique site development challenges.

Geotechnical + Surveying

Partially positioned above an existing sewer line and basement structure, the public art piece is also adjacent to an underground subway tunnel. As such, the project required MTA tunnel impact coordination and approvals. To help facilitate the design, our surveying division provided a topographic and utility/GPR survey of the area and our geotechnical team performed vacuum borings to ensure the proposed spread footing did not conflict with an abandoned underground rubble wall.

Civil + Structural

Based on the investigation, our civil engineers were able to provide the most viable layout solutions, sidewalk design, and utility coordination. The statue’s foundation design itself was provided by our structural engineers. Additionally, DOT and DOB permitting was provided by our in-house expeditor.