Client: Houston Downtown Management District

Overview

A meandering bayou inspired work of play sculptures sited in Historic Market Square Park in downtown Houston. Meander is a permanent public art installation in Downtown Houston’s Historic Market Square Park. Nestled under the live oak trees, it is a playable interactive piece evoking the meander of Buffalo Bayou.

Goals

The goals for Meander were to create something vivid with bold color and form that illuminated at night while also being functional as seating and playful space for kids. We carefully sited the work so that it enhanced views to the performance lawn and allowed for circulation and connection to the existing pathways.

Process

Our custom process was featured in the February issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine. From the article: "Meander was built in a two-part process involving separate molds and installations for the concrete and resin sections of the piece. The curvilinear concrete pieces were made by the Ark Concrete Specialties, Inc., in Houston, a fabrication team that builds wooden concrete molds by hand and pours a proprietary concrete mix. The team cast each concrete piece as an 800- to 1,200-pound module that fits into a larger portion of Meander’s curves, sort of like sections on a caterpillar. When the concrete team finished making their pieces, they placed and fit them together on site at Market Square Park, allowing Mihalic and her team to cast a positive of the resin mold."