THE END of July saw Solaire Resort North in Quezon City mount a formal ceremony naming The Mangrove — an artwork by American glass sculptor Nikolas Weinstein, located at its lobby atrium — as the largest glass tube installation in the world, as per Guinness World Records.
The monumental glass installation took over four years of meticulous planning, engineering, and craftsmanship to make.
“When we first imagined this property, we set our sights high. Not just on growth, but on transformation. We didn’t want to simply build another resort. We wanted to create something that would stand out for its creativity, elegance, and meaning,” said Gregory Hawkins, president and chief operating officer for Bloomberry Resorts Corp., at the ceremony.
He explained that The Mangrove is at the heart of their vision, reflecting with Solaire Resort North stands for. It is meant to be “a breathtaking symbol of strength, growth, and resilience.”
RECORD NUMBERSEmi Saito, the official adjudicator of Guinness World Records, said at the event that they measured the structure in the presence of two witnesses, as well as reviewed it based on a full report.
“The minimum requirement was an added height, width, and depth longer than 60 meters,” she explained. “It also has to be in a public space.”
The Mangrove stands at 25.396 meters in height, 19.166 meters in width, and 24.198 meters in depth.
It is made up of 16,000 glass tubes supported by steel bars. The materials used in crafting the sculpture include glass, stainless steel, cable, silicone, and acrylic.
Located at the hotel and casino’s main atrium, the sculptor Mr. Weinstein worked with Samantha Drummond and her Habitus Design Group so that the lobby would evoke Philippine mangrove forests.
For visitors to Solaire Resort North, the tubes appear to gently twist and turn as if in movement, reaching up through the three-story atrium towards the skylight.
For Mr. Weinstein, the “difficult” and “frustrating” process of putting it all together was part of the challenge.
“We were really interested in making it something where you can kind of move through it, above it, and around it,” he said in a video message played at the ceremony.
He added that it became that huge “not because that was the intention.”
“It was sort of like, ‘here’s a big space, what do you want to do with it?’” he said.
The Mangrove can be found in Solaire Resort North, located on 1 Solaire Way in Vertis North, Quezon City. — Brontë H. Lacsamana
