Iconic Bridge Structure for Metro Gold Line

Concept for an Iconic Bridge Structure as part of Metro Gold Line in California

An iconic structure has to have a strong, essentially simple gesture. I chose the circle for its reference to the wheel, movement and speed. Fully aware that the vast majority of those who see this bridge do so from the vehicles that pass beneath it, I wanted to heighten that experience so that it feels as if one is passing “through” the opening. This would be true for the passengers in the trains as well as in the cars. The challenge was to have both those who pass below and those who pass in the train slip through the circle as if through a portal into another space. By rotating the axis of the circle so that the ends land on either side of the bridge, there is a subtle but dynamic surprise. The cables that provide structural as well as visual power weave a play of lines. From a distance the circular arch is a strong graphic element growing more powerful as one approaches it. Like a marker to distinguish time and space, one would be aware of your shifting place in relation to it.

Lighting at night would be an important component to create the drama of an iconic structure. Colored LED’s whose long life and low energy consumption can be programmed to shift color and intensity. The lighting could possibly respond either to train or car traffic for an animated light show.

Bridge animation for Metro Golden Line

Iconic Bridge Structure for Metro Gold Line

Iconic Bridge Structure for Metro Gold Line

Light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

Light Wave

Concept

A curved line of sails animates the open courtyard as if a single piece of paper had floated into the space and we are seeing it through a series of moments in time. The supporting poles for the sails create a pedestrian space, a colonnade providing a shaded passage way between the music and theater wings as well as a gathering place and focus within the courtyard. The canopy is a shelter from the rain as well as the sun.

At night, computer controlled LED’s shine up onto the underside of the sails changing color and intensity and moving in sequence to create a sense of flow in a variety of patterns, from side to side, from the center out to the edges, with almost unlimited combinations of colors and rhythms possible. The computer controls can be set to respond to what is going on at the Center and custom light programs can be easily designed for specific events. The PVC coated polyester is translucent thus the color of the lights can be seen from above and below.

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

Light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

Light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

sun sails

Sun Sails

Sun Sails are tensile shade structures grouped to form ribbons and wave forms that mimic the wave energy of water and wind. By assembling these tensile forms in a configuration that suggests movement, they provide a beautiful sculptural illusion of the wind’s animation while providing shade.

Each of these Sun Sails is a standard module whose configuration is adapted to different locations by a simple pivot system that allows for fine tuned adjustment of angles before being fixed permanently. In these renderings the sails are 11 x 17’, though scale could vary depending on the context.

Rigid tubes on the two short sides of the sails hold the fabric in a tensile curve while a pivot point in the center of these tubes is attached to upright poles of different heights. Taut cable along the remaining edges holds the fabric under tension. Sun Sails can be cantilevered out from buildings to lower the cost of cooling within buildings while providing shade for pedestrians. The waveforms can be grouped over open courtyards, sidewalks and parking lots by combining tension cables and rigid members so the columns have a minimal footprint on the ground. The tilt of the ribbon can respond to the prevailing angles of the sun through the hottest times of day and year. These single modules can be reconfigured in almost limitless ways thereby controlling costs while allowing for the maximum flexibility of sculptural form.

Energy Harvesting Textiles for Power Generation

There are numerous new energy harvesting textiles being developed by such companies as G24 Innovations Inc., AB Ludwig Svensson, Inc. and Intelligent Textiles Engineering working with innovative architecture firms such as Kennedy and Violich Architecture, Ltd. These fabrics are beautiful and durable and one of KVArchitects (http://www.kvarch.net/) designs (Soft House) can generate 16,000 watt hours of electricity. The basic structure of the Sun Sails can accommodate different materials as they become commercially available and the power generated can do everything from power the lighting to recharging car batteries in parking lots. In addition, modern lightweight fabrics such as Soltis 92 made by Ferrari (a polyester mesh with a PVC coating) are designed to last 20 years making them an affordable and realistic material if the budget doesn’t yet allow for energy harvesting textiles.

Illumination at Night

Lighting at night is as important as the shade during the day and is an integral part of the sense of movement and animation. This rhythmic flow of light using computer controlled LED lighting means waves of shifting color that can be programmed to respond to the season or some event or even to be interactive with the pedestrians. LED consumes little power and lasts a very long time so bulbs do not need to be frequently changed.

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

sun sails

Images of Cloudbreak in progress

CLOUDBREAK (to be installed 2010)

Cloudbreak, 2008. Glass and Steel,14 x 41 x 2’

This work was created for the Denver Justice Center jury assembly room.

In this work, light is a metaphor for insight and clarity in justice as it is throughout the Justice Center. As potential jurists sit and wait for their selection and instruction, the sun from the outside glows from behind the clouds as if from a higher plane of awareness. The shifting color and light as it plays over and through the glass is a meditation on transcendent beauty and it calls on each individual to reach for his or her higher self while taking on the serious responsibility as a juror.


Day and Night/Inside and Out

A key feature of CLOUDBREAK is that it can be seen from both inside and outside the building and is visible during the day and at night. The different lighting within and without causes it to be an ever changing experience. At night spotlights on the wall inside make this glowing a painting of light when seen from the outside and during the day as the sun moves, the experience of the wall changes.

The amorphous, luminous cloud of color and glass is held within the structure of the grid using the visual language reiterated throughout the architecture.

Details of Construction

Guided by the original design of the metal “reveal” included in the architect’s plans for this wall, a substantial metal structure (whose details will be determined by an engineer) holds the thousands of glass tubes in place. The original plaster wall has been replaced by a wall of approximately 11,200 glass tubes so that some of the translucency of the window on the left is continued through this wall.

Behind the wall of glass tubes the etched glass frit “skin” of the building allows the morning light from the east to illuminate the wall. The tubes vary in dimension between 1.5” to 3” in diameter. They are between 12” to 24” long. The side of the tube wall which is toward the outside glazing is covered with a permanent colored film with the altered photographic image of the clouds. (this is a photograph taken here in Colorado.) The glass transmits this color as well as the light, pulling it into the room.

Cary Town Hall, Cary, NC

This is a shade structure for the Cary Town Hall in Cary, NC. I have approved the contract and am just waiting for them to give me the go ahead.

The gazebo structure in the grassy courtyard offers a dynamic visual focus as well as a shaded seating area during the hottest times of day. It is both a place and a sculpture that speaks to the expanding and embracing energies of Cary.

Inspired by the growth spiral of the local loblolly pine cones whose trees provided lumber that first shipped from what has become the town of Cary, the design speaks of the growth transformed into the high tech energy of the local community. Its material and airy lightness links it to the new Town Hall architecture.