AION - The World's largest Rolling Ball Clock
Aion, the marble run clock at Bucherer's flagship store in Lucerne was built by Sinnwerkstatt GmbH (CH) and Markinetic (NL) on behalf of Creative Circle (CH)
At the heart of the marble run is a
large clock, which is based and operates on kinetic
principles. At the watch's periphery, rolling glass
marbles – which are constantly in motion –
indicate the seconds, minutes, quarters and hours in an
impressive spectacle involving time. Driven by kinetic
energy, the crystal spheres find their way through the
rollercoaster at high speed, seeking the gigantic minute
ring. One marble ends up in the ring every minute, until
60 of them finally make up an hour. A polar opposite to
this ongoing motion is provided by a giant crystal ball
on the ground floor, which oscillates once every quarter
of an hour. The mechanical components, all perfectly
geared to one another, are fascinatingly combined to
create a clock system that is precise, completely
self-contained and infinite. And this is where the work
takes its name: Aion. The word comes from ancient Greek
philosophy and stands for the infinity of time. And this
is where the work takes its name: Aion. The word comes
from ancient Greek philosophy and stands for the infinity
of time.
World's largest marble run clock
The installation extends
to all four floors in the Bucherer store, is 11.6 m (38
ft) high and 6 m (almost 20 ft) wide. In the entire
system, 150 crystal balls measuring 30, 40 and 150 mm
(1.2, 1.6 and 5.9 in) run along 297.8 m (977 ft) of
track. These impressive dimensions have qualified for
official recognition by the Guinness Book of World
Records as the longest marble run clock in the world.
Precision craftsmanship all down the line
The project was entrusted
to Hanns-Martin Wagner from Switzerland and Mark Bischof
from Netherlands. Work on the sculpture began in spring
2006 with a series of detailed feasibility studies, and
the project was finally completed after 12 months. All
the elements and components used for the iconic structure
are unique and were painstakingly made by hand.
The project team
Up to 12 people and lots
of subcontractors got involved with the project:
Mark Bischof, Amsterdam (NL): Creative design,
drawings, metal working
Lukas Bischofberger, Rikon (CH): Metal working,
mechanics
Claudia Brenner, Basel (CH): Accounting
Sonja Greuter, Zürich (CH): Metal working,
polishing
Lorenz Grimmer, Dinhard (CH): Workshop
supervisor, engineering, metal working, toolmaking,
mechanics, assembling
Stefan Grünenfelder, Breno (CH): Assembling
Roman Hutter, Sogamoso Boyaca (CO): Sculptor
Julie Lagger, Rikon (CH): Polishing
Martin Märki, Winterthur (CH): Engineering,
electronic controlling, programming, assembling
Stefan Schwab, Stuttgart (DE): Technical
drawings and layout
Hanns-Martin Wagner, Wendlingen a.N. (DE) und
Langnau a.A. (CH): Project management, technical
drawings, metal working, assembling
Jonas à Wengen, Winterthur (CH): Metal working,
polishing
