Description
This project makes visible to the human eye the patterns of desert winds. During the day, sunlight projects patterned shadow drawings onto the ground and pedestrians on their daily paths. At night, the colored illumination gradually changes color through the seasons. The large three-dimensional multi-layered form is created by a combination of hand and machine knotting of recyclable high-tenacity colored polyester that is replaced in new color variations at intervals.

 

 

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Materials and Size

Painted galvanized steel and cables; changing sets of recyclable high-tenacity polyester braided twine netting; colored lighting with computerized programming.

Poles: 105 feet, 125 feet and 145 feet tall
Rings: Outer: 100 feet wide; Inner: 30 feet wide
Cable: 1 ¾ -inch cable; 1-inch cable
Net Dimensions: 100 feet wide at the top – 15 feet wide at the bottom
The lowest part of the net hangs 38 feet above the ground. The highest rises to about 100 feet.
Wind Load: designed to withstand summer monsoon winds.

Credits
Client: City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
Art: Janet Echelman
Studio Echelman Team: Philip Speranza (Design Support), Melanie Rose Peterson (Conceptual Design/Development, Rachel Kaede Newsam (Design Support)
Fabrication & Project Engineering: CAID Industries (Tuscon, AZ)
Net Engineering: Buro Happold (New York)
Aeronautical Engineering: Peter Heppel Associates (Paris)
Consultant: Speranza Architecture (New York)
Steel Structure Engineering: M3 Engineering (Tuscon, AZ)
Lighting: VOX Arts (Baltimore, MD)
Structural Erection: Nexus Steel
Sculptural Foundations: Foresite Design (Berkley, MI)
Photos: Christina O'Haver, David Feldman, Will Novak, Peter Vanderwarker, Tom Byrne, Katie Porter

Awards

• 2010 - Year in Review Award, Public Art Network
• 2009 - Reader's Choice Award for "Best Public Art,", Phoenix New Times
• 2009 - Crescordia Environmental Excellence Award for "Art in Public Places," Valley Forward Association
• 2008 - Award for Excellence in Structural Engineering, Arizona Structural Engineering Association (ASEA)

Map
Civic Space Park,

Phoenix, AZ, USA

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