Hong Kong’s ‘Chubby Heart’ display skips a beat as high wind speeds force event to take ‘short break’
- Hong Kong Design Centre says display at Statue Square Gardens in Central to take a pause as winds speed exceed tolerable limit for 12-metre heart-shaped installation
- Art piece vulnerable to strong winds due to large size and vertical rigging of ropes, which might cause it to move in weather and pose risk to people, expert says
Hong Kong’s giant heart-shaped balloon installation is taking a “short break” amid high wind speeds, organisers have announced.
The Hong Kong Design Centre wrote on social media on Saturday that the “Chubby Heart” display, which launched on Valentine’s Day, would be briefly paused due to the weather that afternoon.
“Currently, the wind speed at Statue Square Gardens in Central has exceeded the maximum limit that the 12-metre [39-foot] heart-shaped installation can withstand,” it said. “To ensure public safety, the giant heart needs to take a short break and will meet everyone again when the weather stabilises.”
The installation is believed to be four times the size of one on display in London.
A source told the Post that the team carried out a test before and found that the balloon would need to be taken down if the wind speed reached about 41km/h (25mph), similar to that experienced under a typhoon No 3 signal.
According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the 10-minute mean wind speed at Central Pier ranged from 20km/h to 25km/h at 4pm.