![Electric ...](../images/electric.gif)
![Ben Franklin](../images/header.gif)
Lightning Bolt
A Tribute to Franklin, sculpture by Isamu Noguchi
![Bolt of Lightning...A Memorial to Benjamin Franklin](../images/kite3.jpg)
Isamu Noguchi designed this 60-ton stainless steel sculpture. It is 101-feet tall and marks the axis of Independence Mall and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. It is situated at 5th Street and Vine, in a vest-pocket park. The sculpture depicts a bolt of lighting, a kite, and a key at the base.
![kite4](../images/kite4.jpg)
![Isamu Noguchi plaque](../images/kite5.jpg)
Plaques within the park offer statistical information about the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and about the Noguchi kite.
![View of Ben Franklin Bridge from statue](../images/kite1.jpg)
Caution is advised to anyone wishing to view the kite up close and in person. The intrepid art-lover must cross 4 lanes of traffic to reach the sculpture — an electrifying experience in itself.
![Looking up at the Bolt of Lightning](../images/kite2.jpg)
As you look straight up the sculpture you can envision the kite flying high in the Philadelphia sky, attracting the bolt of lightning that changed scientific understanding of electricity forever.