The Broken Kilometer

The Broken Kilometer is a permanent art installation by artist Walter De Maria, located in New York City's SoHo neighborhood. The work consists of 500 highly polished, solid brass rods, each two meters long, arranged in five parallel rows inside a street-level storefront. Installed in 1979, the entire sculpture weighs nearly 19 tons and would span 3,280 feet if laid end to end. Admission to the site is free, and it is operated by the Dia Art Foundation, which also maintains several other De Maria works. The venue offers an illustrated brochure and is open Wednesday through Sunday, though it is not wheelchair accessible due to a short flight of stairs at the entrance.