Fire Bird by Richard Lippold, 1986

Henry T. Segerstrom commissioned Richard Lippold to create Fire Bird in 1985 for Segerstrom Hall, which was being constructed at the time. This 60-foot-high sculpture was designed to be architecturally integrated into both the exterior and interior of the Hall.The gold, red and silver colored stainless steel and aluminum sculpture was names Fire Bird by the late Renee Segerstrom as an homage to Igor Stravinsky's Ballet of the same name.

Lippold conceived of his sculptures as objects in space, which he developed from a Constructivist model. He was devoted to pure geometry, seeing it as a metaphor for the universe and its philosophical mystique. With very few exceptions, Lippold's constructions in space employ simple geometric forms that outline triangle, cubes, pyramids, cones and circles. The viewer need not analyze Lippold's geometric webs of stretched wire to appreciate the beauty, elegance and tension Fire Bird creates in equilibrium with the architecture of Segerstrom Hall.