The artwork’s array of facetted reflections integrates Salt Lake’s environmental qualities into the buildings vertical circulation experience.
SUSPENDED LIGHT PILLARS
SALT LAKE CITY, USA
2014
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THE FIELD OF HEXAGONAL REFLECTORS ARE ACTIVATED BY DAYLIGHT FROM THE SKYLIGHT ABOVE THE 100' ATRIUM
THE ATRIUM ARTWORK BUILDS UPON THE BUILDING'S CORE CONCERN WITH DAYLIGHTING
NINE MIRRORS BELOW THE SKYLIGHT ARE ARRANGED TO DIRECT LIGHT TO THE LOBBY LEVEL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
LOOKING DOWN THE SUSPENDED LIGHT PILLARS OCCUPYING THE NARROW ATRIUM
VIEW FROM THE LOBBY AT THE ELEVATOR BANK WHERE THE NARROW ATTRIUM RISES 100'
THE FACETS OF EACH PILLAR VARY IN LIMITED RANGE OF COLORS AND REFLECTIVITY
DEPENDING ON THE VIEWER’S POSITION THE ARTWORK FLUCTUATES FROM STATIC ARRAYS TO HIGHLY DYNAMIC FIELDS
JCDA ALSO WORKED WITHT THE ARCHITECT ON THE BUILDING ENCLOSURE, FURTHER ARTICULATING THE ARCHITECT'S LIGHT-DRIVEN SCHEME
Description
JCDA’s artwork is conceived as a suspended grid of vertically suspended hexagonal “pillars”, designed to suggest and mimic a cloud composed of ice crystals. Such ice clouds are common phenomena in the Salt Lake City area and occur when cold air and water in the upper atmosphere combine to create suspended ice crystals that often take the form of polygonal “pillars”. When aligned and then intersected by a beam of sunlight, these hexagons refract the light and create a range of atmospheric light effects such as halos and pillars.
The art work’s 9 stacked fields of hexagonal tubes are, like the cloud borne ice crystals that inspire them, suspended and aligned. They are also intersected by beams of sunlight, projected into their midst by nine tilted mirrors below the skylight. Using reflection to emulate the refraction that occurs in clouds, the Suspended Light Pillars serve to evoke one of Salt Lake City’s signature visual phenomena.
Architect: Thomas Phifer & Partners
Executive Architect: Naylor Wentworth Lund Architects
Daylighting: Carpenter Norris Consulting