The ‘Assembly Field’, created by renowned glass artist, Danny Lane, is located on the front corner of the Senedd adjoining the external lifts. It has been designed and developed as a functional object to help reduce the speed of high winds and protect pedestrians walking up to the front steps of the building.
The work consists of five parallel rows of 32 vertical glass elements of varying height. Each element is between 100cm and 240cm high, 50cm wide and 3.4 cm thick, and is built up of two heat strengthened glass elements laminated with a sealant that protects the glass from splintering in case of severe impact. They are fixed to anchoring brackets that sit beneath the paving, so that each element gives the impression of disappearing into the plinth.
A unique characteristic of the work is the apparent transformation that occurs as the viewer moves past or around it. The work is transparent and permeable, and when viewed from the front virtually disappears. The surfaces reflect and mirror the other elements and the surroundings, and the edges create a field of vertical emerald lines.
Artist’s Comments
"This functioning wind hedge is a high performance glass object. It has been engineered to conform to bomb blast specification and withstand the gust of wind deflected by the façade of the Senedd building and remain a transparent artwork."
"The design is a field of 32 clear glass plates positioned on a hexagonal grid. As you move around the group they appear in rows at every 30 degrees by virtue of the hexagonal configuration. Surface will reflect surface and from an adjacent viewpoint you will be able to see through the entire group. The design has been reduced and reduced to its essence. It is a poetic response to an exceptional building of cultural importance."
