Client: MAYO CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM, T. Denny Sanford Pediatric Center
Completion date: 2007
Artwork budget: $500,000
Project Team
Architect
BILL BLANSKI
HGA
Architect
Hal Henderson
HGA
Architect
Roger Nelson
HGA
Interior Designer
Amy Tasch
HGA
Interior Designer
Nancy Schmidt
HGA
Interior Designer
Jennifer Logelin
HGA
Interior Designer
Courtney Grapper
HGA
Architect
Maggie Sutton
HGA
Architect
Christine Peterson
HGA
Overview
The Pediatric Center establishes a welcoming and healing environment for the thousands of children and their family members who visit the center from around the world every year. In planning the new facility, Mayo sought to welcome patients into their “home” by sharing the beauty and vastness of Minnesota’s natural environment-from rivers and lakes to forest and prairies. The 1/2″ thick (12′ tall and over 40′ in length) cast art glass wall and suspended sculptural leaves were created in the Trellage-Ferrill studio.
Goals
The Discovery Wall is the highlight of the enchanted forest that we brought to life for the T. Denny Sanford Pediatric Center. The design taps children's imaginations and sense of wonder by recognizing their intrinsic curiosity and intellectual imagination. Rather than presenting nature imagery as a photo-copy facsimile, the designers concentrated on how children "perceive" their surroundings. The design of the glass works with scale, repetition and organic patterning encouraging children to focus on beauty, wonder and discovery-even if just for a moment.
Process
The designers at HGA approached us to help create a piece based on nature that was meant to be visually and acoustically delightful and inspiring. These approaches we believe can help promote healing through positive feelings: can calm one’s spirit and fear, while giving something memorable about their visit and/or enlighten their return. Our task posed to us by the architect and interior designer was to create undulating glass walls, playful in form, full of color and light. This is a process we are quite familiar with, since we have been collaborating as glass artists and architects since 1999. As a team, we have been combining our variety of skills to produce public art in architecture for both interior and exterior applications, throughout America and Internationally.
Additional Information
This project has won the following awards: 2008 Minnesota Physician’s Honor Award 2008 Surface Fabrication & Design Expo Commercial/Institutional Award