Client: Harwood International

Overview

Artist Uprising was met with a unique challenge – to create a bamboo garden inspired by the beautiful work at Chaumont-sur-Loire in France in Downtown Dallas. The client wanted to bring this Euro-Asian garden to their Thai restaurant in the heart of the city, creating an immersive pathway for clientele as they walked into the building. Artist Uprising was hired to source the fabricators, and designers, and oversee the project from conception to installation. The team of designers, spearheaded by Hobbes Vincent and Paul Saffle, worked through incredibly specific problems to create a statement, which ultimately, not only incorporated over 500 bamboo posts at varying heights ranging upward of 30 feet but also brought powerful engineering into play. City permits required the sculpture to be semipermanent, and easily removed in the case of emergency underground access. The team created a functional underground trellis system, combing both structural engineering with breathtaking design. The bamboo legs were screwed into shafts buried within the ground producing the result you see today. Check out Elephant East in Downtown Dallas to see the incredible work done by Hobbes Vincent and Paul Saffle, curated by Artist Uprising!

Goals

The goal of this installation was to create a beautiful bamboo garden, inspired by the work at Chaumont-sur-Loire in France in Downtown Dallas. It was incredibly important to create an immersive experience for the client.

Process

Artist Uprising, Hobbes Vincent, and Paul Saffle worked closely together to ensure the design not only met the client's requests but also meet city requirements. While this could limit the design possibilities, this allowed the team to pull onto creative resources and strategies to achieve the desired experience. The intricate trellis system had to be carefully designed and placed perfectly within the ground to allow for easy access in the case of emergencies. Truly, the end result is a great example of thinking through all the possible outcomes and landing on the best fit option.