Elephant Statue, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

2012

Abacus Engineering were hired as structural engineering consultants for the design of internal structural armature for renowned artst, Michael Parekowhai’s Elephant Statue. The Elephant Statue would go on to be displayed at “The World Turns” at the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) & Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane, Australia. Abacus Engineering were also involved in the subsequent design of the container base for shipping from Auckland, New Zealand to Brisbane, Australia.

Abacus Engineering also oversaw construction observation during assembly of the statue which involved a large crane picking up the statue through the roof of the construction warehouse, before it was then placed on the statue base and welded / fixed into place. 

 The Queensland Prime Minister was upset by the design coming from New Zealand at the time, the headline read from Australian News outlets read “Million dollar mammoth makes Minister mad”. This article can be found on  Michael Parekowhai’s wikipedia page or when googling the statue.