July 13, 1999

Peace crane to land in Kingdome

By ANNU MANGAT
Journal Staff Reporter

A leading engineering firm in Seattle is playing a key role in the construction of the world's largest origami paper crane, a project that received its official kick-off Monday at the Kingdome, where it will be built in November.

Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire is volunteering its engineering expertise to build the crane, an international symbol of peace. The origami crane, which will be registered in the "Guinness Book of World Records," will stand 120 feet tall, with a wing span of 200 feet. It is part of the World Peace Project for Children and will involve the labor of 10,000 students from Washington state.

With a wing span almost as long as a football field, the origami paper crane shown in this rendering will be the world's largest. The engineer for the project, which is part of a worldwide peace education campaign, is Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire of Seattle. The crane will be put together inside the Kingdome in November by more than 10,000 students from Washington state.

"It's not in any engineering textbook," said Jon Magnusson, chief executive officer of SWMB. Magnusson said 640 strips of paper, 3 feet wide by 30 feet long, will be taped together to form a single, continuous sheet, which is necessary for the origami technique.

He said SWMB used some of the same structural analysis computer programs on the paper crane that it used for engineering the roof at Safeco Field and the Experience Music Project.

Watching a group of engineers learn origami "was rather humorous," he said. Leading the effort was SWMB engineer Owen Kohashi, who Magnusson said came up with techniques to minimize the number of folding steps -- an important consideration in a project that requires the manipulation of a piece of paper one acre in size.

Magnusson became involved with the project after hearing about it through a fellow Rotary Club member. He said the "intriguing" engineering aspects, its message of peace and the participation of school children made his volunteer effort an easy decision.

Also endorsing the project is King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle School Superintendent Joseph Olchefske. The project is dedicated to all children, with a special dedication to Akiko Kurose, a Seattle teacher and peace activist. The project is also dedicated to John Stanford, the late superintendent of Seattle Public Schools.

The paper crane as a symbol of peace was inspired by the story of a Japanese girl who died as a result of the U.S. atom bombing of Hiroshima. The crane will be flown around the world as a message of peace from American children. The crane will then be displayed in other countries, according to organizers from the World Peace Project for Children. For more information about the project, visit the web site.