Freeze! There’s a 10-ton block of ice melting in Seattle right now and there are pictures

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Olson Kundig ice
An artist’s rendering of the Olson Kundig Ice Cube. (Via Olson Kundig)

Just what environmentally conscious Seattleites needed: a giant reminder in the middle of the city to illustrate that ice does indeed melt.

Seattle architecture firm Olson Kundig dropped its 10-ton Ice Cube in Occidental Park on Thursday night (as part of the Seattle Design Festival) and by Friday afternoon folks were sharing tweets and images about an art installation designed to define “temporary.”

Ice Cube
That other Ice Cube. (Via YouTube)

The purpose of the piece — other than to remind us that we didn’t even need our AK today! — is to showcase “the stages of the natural water cycle as the ice shifts from opaque to translucent,” according to Kundig’s website. “The pure form of the cube will gradually erode in the summer sun, marking the passage of time as its waters slowly return to the sea.”

How fast that might happen even drew the attention of Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington and all around weather nerd.

Mass launched a contest on his blog asking readers to guess the date and time of final melt-out. Don’t forget to take into account “condensation on the surface, which depends on the humidity of the air, the air temperature, wind speed, and more.”

In the meantime, while a city known for its sometimes chilly demeanor watches ice melt, check out the hashtag #ok_icecube on Twitter and Instagram.

The first of many great things to come this weekend! #ok_icecube #occidentalsquare #pioneersquare #designchange #SDF2016

A post shared by Pioneer Square Seattle (@pioneersquare) on

Fun at Occidental Square this morning! A giant melting ice cube! #ok_icecube

A post shared by Natalie Simon (@nataliewhich) on

 

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