Client: Hillsborough County Aviation Authority

Overview

Location: Tampa International Airport, SkyConnect station at the Rental Car Center. A river of freely moving reflective elements floats above the airtrain station platform. Angled plates reflect the variety of color in the immediate environment. Each cluster of elements measures six feet by eight feet and consists of small rectangular brushed aluminum plates. In total, ten clusters of elements extend along the station ceiling for roughly 100 feet. The changes in air volume are reflected in a fascinating and complex series of movements overhead.

Goals

In kinetic sculpture, as in transit, movement is everything. The constantly changing patterns produced by the slightest currents of air are what we count on to repeatedly draw the eye of the viewer back to the work. A number of factors influence the movement of the works including: the time of day, the air handling systems in the building, and the number of people moving through the space at any given moment. The constant pedestrian traffic and the arrival and departure of the trains makes this a most interesting site for an air driven kinetic sculpture. The dance of the sculptures reveals the forces that act on the air in the airtrain station.

Process

After our proposal was accepted we began in house fabrication at our studio. We were in frequent contact with the TPA technical team about the requirements of the space and the progress of construction. The TPA technical team was also most helpful during the installation. We also were in communication with the architects during and after the installation in order to fine tune the HVAC so that those air currents moved evenly over the sculpture.