Giant ice cube is gone from Seattle, but suspicion remains
Sep 20, 2016, 2:09 PM
On lookers watched the giant ice cube melt away in Seattle's Occidental Park over September 2016. (Erik Johnson)
(Erik Johnson)
The giant ice cube in Seattle’s Occidental Park is gone. But it left behind something, and I’m not talking about the massive puddle. Rather, a mystery remains.
“Folks … I am deeply suspicious that there was some serious ice hanky-panky between the 17th and the 18th. Saturday night,” wrote Climatologist Cliff Mass on his weather blog.
Can you spot every song reference in this ice cube article?
According to Mass, the giant ice cube, though greatly diminished, should have lasted until later this week. But it didn’t. Instead, a few remnants were left on the ground on Monday, Sept. 19.
“Someone got to the ice cube,” Mass alleges on his blog.
The giant ice cube was placed in Occidental Park on Sept. 9 by architecture firm Olson Kundig. It was meant as a public art display that would melt away over time.
On his blog, Mass held a contest to see who could estimate when the giant ice cube would fully melt away. Two people correctly guessed. But Mass also points out that he is suspicious that human activity influenced the melting (a metaphor for the current climate change issue?). There was significant loss between Sept. 11-14 — the cube went from its box shape to a melting monolith. But despite melting, the monolith experienced the greatest reduction on the night of Sept. 17-18, as Mass points out. It completely disappeared.
Given the weather, temperatures, and other conditions, the giant ice cube should have lasted much longer, and certainly shouldn’t have disappeared over one night.
Of course, humans might not be entirely to blame, as Olson Kundig showed on its Twitter page.
Just one of the many great photos from our #ok_icecube installation during #SDF2016! @SeaDesignFest @DiPSeattle pic.twitter.com/VUCWFskceL
— Olson Kundig (@olsonkundig) September 12, 2016
Spotted on Instagram: Even four-legged visitors are exploring #ok_icecube during #SDF2016: https://t.co/eY7q8aspvp pic.twitter.com/tdbvUqkNgK
— Olson Kundig (@olsonkundig) September 11, 2016
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