 Janet Echelman was selected to design an iconic sculpture to anchor the new LeBauer City Park in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. The monumental sculpture is composed of 35 miles of technical fibers crafted into 242,800 knots which gently pulse in breeze, creating an ephemeral presence in the sky above the new city park. The commission was led by a $1-million grant from the Edward M. Armfield, Sr. Foundation, which commissioned The Community Foundation`s Public Art Endowment to manage and execute the project. They searched for an artist to give visual form to the history of Greensboro and the textile tradition of North Carolina, and selected Janet Echelman. &ldquo;I discovered that Greensboro was nicknamed the &lsquo;Textile Capital of the World` and &lsquo;Gateway City` because six railroad lines intersected there, &ldquo; said Echelman, &ldquo; so I started tracing the railway lines and marking the historic textile mills that dotted the routes. These routes brought together people from diverse cultures and races, so I wove together lines of brilliant color that meet at the center, and titled it &lsquo;Where We Met`.&rdquo; The sculpture spans 200 feet between 60-foot-tall masts, each bearing up to 6 tons of force. Echelman recently unveiled designs for the next 15 years of the public artwork, which will begin a multi-year color progression in which the color scheme of the sculptural fiber netting is changed approximately every 5 years with a new color palette. Other elements of the artwork remain constant, including the sculpture`s structural rope system. Echelman hopes this cyclical change of color will energize the relationship of the artwork with Greensboro residents: &ldquo;Each time the colors change, it`s an invitation to see the familiar in a new light. And over the years, I hope people will look back at the photos they`ve taken and be able to locate memories and phases of their lives by the colors of the sculpture.&rdquo; Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

LeBauer Park @ Greensboro Downtown Parks

Where We Met

 Echelman`s soft, voluminous net sculpture surged 180 feet through the air between buildings above Oxford Circus, the busiest pedestrian area in all of London. The monumental floating form is composed of layers of fiber, braided and knotted together in vibrant hues that pulse with changing wind and weather to create a choreography of undulating color. At night, the sculpture came to life with projected colored light. The precise colors and patterns were created interactively with members of the public, who were invited to use their smartphones to select colors and tap out patterns with the touch of a finger. These patterns were projected onto the monumental surface of the sculpture, and proceeded to interact with one another, creating ripple effects for all to see. The work`s title is 1.8, referring to the length of time in microseconds that the earth`s day was shortened as a result of a single physical event, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that emanated from Japan. The sculpture`s form was inspired by data sets of the tsunami`s wave heights rippling across the entire Pacific Ocean. The artwork delves into content related to our complex interdependencies with larger cycles of time and our physical world. The sculpture`s net structure is a physical manifestation of interconnectedness - when any one element moves, every other element is affected. Lightweight and flexible, the sculpture travels to other cites around the world after its premiere at Lumiere London 2016, a light festival produced by Artichoke. It is constructed from technical fibers that are 15 times stronger than steel by weight, and custom color blends that Echelman combines with programmed colored light to create the final artwork. The artwork invites you to pause amid the bustle and commotion, offering a chance to gaze skyward and contemplate a physical manifestation of the interconnectedness surrounding us. To date, the 1.8 sculpture has been installed in: London, UK (2016), San Diego, CA (2016), Mexico City, Mexico (2017), Beijing, China (2017), Xian, China (2018), Green Mountain Falls, CO (2019), and Perth, Australia (2021). Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Oxford Circus

1.8 London

 With the goal of transforming historic Dilworth Park (outside Philadelphia City Hall) into a focal point for the city's thriving downtown, the Center City District commissioned Echelman to create a permanent artwork inspired by the site`s historic associations with water and transportation. Embedded in the new park`s 11,600-square foot fountain, &ldquo;Pulse" traces in the surface of the fountain the paths of the subway and trolley lines that converge under Dilworth Park. As trains pass beneath, four-foot-tall curtains of colorful atomized mist travel across the park fountain`s surface following the transit lines that that bring more than 70,000 passengers to the site each day. &ldquo;Pulse&rdquo; utilizes a high-pressure misting system of specialized pumps that create an ultra-fine, fog-like, cool mist that quickly evaporates. The ephemeral mist is made of filtered, softened water onto which lighting is projected so it is completely safe for children to play in. Described by the artist as &ldquo;a living X-ray of the city`s circulatory system,&rdquo; the vibrantly colored mist curtains move across the fountain and mirror the footprint of the trains below, evoking the steam rising from the city`s first water pumping station that was located on the site at the beginning of the 19th century, as well as the steam from the trains at the Pennsylvania Railroad Station that were across the street. While celebrating the site`s rich history, &ldquo;Pulse&rdquo; also embraces the future with cutting-edge technology. Echelman and her team worked closely with Center City District in fine-tuning and testing the mechanisms that provide the work`s dramatic multicolor LED illumination and traveling mist, and adjusting them for daylight and nighttime hours. Echelman created the color for each line by blending multiple individually-colored hues of light, drawing inspiration from the ethereal paintings of Mark Rothko. Echelman began designs for "Pulse" in 2009 with construction and integration within the plaza completed in 2011. With the public opening of Dilworth Park in 2014, the underground infrastructure for the first phase of the artwork was completed. The green line phase of &ldquo;Pulse&rdquo; opened on September 12, 2018 when the mist and lighting components were unveiled. The launch of the first phase (green line) will help support fundraising to complete the remaining two sections of Pulse, which trace the Market-Frankford (blue line) and the Broad Street (orange line). Courtesy of Echelman Studio. 

Dilworth Park

Pulse

 This is a video presented by Janet Echelman documenting the Art project in Dilworth Plaza currently under construction 

 With the opening of St. Petersburg`s new 26-acre waterfront Pier in 2020, Janet Echelman unveiled her newest permanent work, Bending Arc. Composed of 1,662,528 knots and 180 miles of twine, the aerial sculpture spans 424 feet and measures 72 feet at its tallest point. Echelman's art embraces change. The monumental sculpture gently billows above the Pier District, allowing the wind to create a choreography of constantly changing shape in the sculpture's soft surface. The sculpture`s color also transforms at every moment while its surface interplays with natural and projected light. In daytime the sculpture casts shadow drawings on the park and people below, and at night it transforms into a glowing beacon of magenta and violet light. The internationally-renowned artist, born and raised along the shores of Tampa Bay, was inspired by historical postcards depicting blue and white striped beach parasols together with the geometric forms made by colonies of barnacles growing on the underside of the pier itself. The sculpture`s design in aerial view can be read as three barnacle-like parasols nestled together. As she continued her design process, she learned of the site`s important Civil Rights Movement significance, as the place where local citizens began peacefully challenging racial barriers, leading to the 1957 US Supreme Court case ruling which upheld the rights of all citizens to enjoy use of the municipal beach and swimming pool without discrimination. The sculpture`s geometry in section is composed of multiple arcs, which gently billow in the wind. The artist titled the sculpture Bending Arc in reference to MLK`s words: &ldquo;The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.&rdquo; A public-private partnership, the fiber sculpture was funded entirely by private donors, and the cost of its related infrastructure and park was covered within the city`s $92 million Pier District project. Made entirely of lightweight fiber, the monumental sculpture is engineered to withstand 150 mph winds, and the maximum force applied to its masts is 65 tons. The rope is made of a fiber 15 times stronger than steel by weight and was used by NASA to tether the Mars Rover. The net in plan covers 47,500 square feet. The net and ropes weigh a total of 5,330 pounds. Echelman`s artwork offers visitors an oasis where they can seek a moment of calm sensory experience and heightened awareness of nature and our place within it. &ldquo;The sky is the canvas for my artwork,&rdquo; says Echelman. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

St. Pete Pier

Bending Arc

 Little Island is a 2.4 acre park on an architecturally spectacular pier in the Hudson River that fuses art and nature in an immersive experience.  Conceived as a leaf floating in water, the pier`s unexpected topography, frames views, defines landscaped and performance spaces, and provides resilience to climate change.  The meandering paths and stairs engage the visitor in a beautiful maritime landscape surrounded by dramatic views of the skyline and river. 

Little Island

 Studio Echelman installed its largest, most interactive sculpture installation to date at the TED Conference`s 30th anniversary, March 2014. The monumental aerial sculpture spanned 745 feet between the 24-story Fairmont Waterfront and the Vancouver Convention Center, challenging the artist to work on her most ambitious scale yet - over twice the size of her largest previous sculpture. The sculpture was presented with an original, interactive work created in collaboration with artist Aaron Koblin, Creative Director of the Data Arts Team in Google's Creative Lab. At night the sculpture came to life as visitors were able to choreograph the lighting in real time using physical gestures on their mobile devices. Vivid beams of light were projected across a massive scale as the result of small movements on spectators` phones. In the daytime, the sculpture`s delicate yet monumental form is subtle, blending in with clouds and sky. A complex matrix of 860,000 hand and machine-made knots and 145 miles of braided fiber weighing nearly 3,500 pounds span 745 feet to make up Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks. In order to achieve such scale and complexity, Echelman turned to Autodesk, a leader in 3D design software that seeks out interesting design problems. Autodesk collaborated with Studio Echelman to create custom 3D software to model the sculpture and test its feasibility. &ldquo;The software has allowed me to explore density, shape, and scale in much greater detail,&rdquo; says Echelman. &ldquo;We can manipulate our designs and see the results immediately. We`re able to push the boundaries of our designs further.&rdquo; Made entirely of soft fibers, the sculpture can attach directly into existing city architecture. To support the artwork across such a large span, Echelman utilized Honeywell Spectra fiber, a lightweight, durable material 15 times stronger than steel by weight. It is designed to travel to cities around the globe after the 2014 TED Conference exhibition as an &ldquo;idea worth spreading.&rdquo; This project embodies the infusion of art and technology, as both continuously evolve together. &ldquo;I want people to feel protected, yet linked to open sky,&rdquo; says Echelman. &ldquo;I hope that visitors feel more connected to those around them - to neighbors and strangers.&rdquo; The title of the sculpture, &lsquo;Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks`, refers to a quotation from Shakespeare`s &lsquo;Julius Caesar`. Through the interactive lighting component, each person can choreograph light onto the artwork and "it`s about each one of us being one of those stars &ndash; those sparks &ndash; and being able to paint the skies,&rdquo; says Echelman. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Vancouver Waterfront

Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks

 The Earthtime sculptures seek to heighten our awareness about the way we are all interconnected with one another and our physical world. They explore the contrast between the forces we can understand and control with those we cannot, and the concerns of our daily existence within the larger cycles of time. Echelman`s studio modeled the physical form for 1.8 using a scientific data set about how a single geologic occurrence in one part of the world had ripple effects all over the world. They measured the change in wave heights of the ocean`s surface as they rippled across the entire Pacific Ocean following an earthquake which originated in Japan in 2011. Its form is a manifestation of interconnectedness &ndash; when any one element in the sculpture moves, every other element is affected. The earth`s day was shortened as a result of this physical event and the length of time measured in microseconds. Titles within the Earthtime series sometimes refer to that numerical measurement of time. To date, the 1.8 sculpture has been installed in: London, UK (2016), San Diego, CA (2016), Mexico City, Mexico (2017), Beijing, China (2017), Xian, China (2018), Green Mountain Falls, CO (2019), and Perth, Australia (2021). Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Supreme Court Gardens

1.8 Perth

 In the center of Chengdu, China, at the intersection of the first Ring Road and Ren Ming Nam Road, the Sliced Porosity Block forms large public plazas with a hybrid of different functions. Creating a metropolitan public space instead of object-icon skyscrapers, this three million squar foot project takes its shape from its distribution of natural light. The required minimum sunlight exposures to the surrounding urban fabric prescribe precise geometric angles that slice the exoskeletal concrete frame of the structure. The building structure is white concrete organized in six foot high openings with earthquake diagonals as required while the "sliced" sections are glass. The large public space framed in the center of the block is formed into three valleys inspired by a poem of the city's greatest poet, Du Fu (713-770), who wrote, 'From the northeast storm-tossed to the southwest, time has left stranded in Three Valleys.' The three plaza levels feature water gardens based on concepts of time&mdash;the Fountain of the Chinese Calendar Year, Fountain of Twelve Months, and Fountain of Thirty Days. These three ponds function as skylights to the six-story shopping precinct below. Establishing human scale in this metropolitan rectangle is achieved through the concept of "micro urbanism," with double-fronted shops open to the street as well as the shopping center. Three large openings are sculpted into the mass of the towers as the sites of the pavilion of history, designed by Steven Holl Architects, the Light Pavilion by Lebbeus Woods, and the Local Art Pavilion by Chinese sculptor Han Meilin. The Sliced Porosity Block is heated and cooled with 468 geothermal wells and the large ponds in the plaza harvest recycled rainwater, while the natural grasses and lily pads create a natural cooling effect. High- performance glazing, energy-efficient equipment and the use of regional materials are among the other methods employed to reach the LEED Gold rating. 

CapitaLand Raffles City

Sliced Porosity

Surrounded by water on three sides, this post-industrial waterfront site is separated from Manhattan by the East River. Two hundred years ago the site was a series of wetlands. After years as an industrial hub and rail station, all signs of its ecologically rich history were eliminated. What remained was a contaminated brownfield with an irregular water`s edge, a steep bluff, and remnants of decaying piers juxtaposed against the spectacle of the Manhattan skyline. One of New York City`s most ambitious and complex developments in decades, Hunter`s Point South Waterfront Park aspires to be a transformative project. The park is well-connected to the adjacent neighborhood, to the East River Ferry, Long Island Railroad, two subway stations, Queens midtown tunnel, Pulaski Bridge, and CitiBike docks. By focusing on designing a park, streetscape, and infrastructural system that is innovative, flexible, and aspirational, the design weaves together new relationships between architecture, landscape and engineering to create places of retreat and recreation and ffer new connections with nature at the water`s edge. The design embraces these diverse historical identities and serves as a new model for waterfront resilience, with a &ldquo;soft&rdquo; approach to protecting the water`s edge from floodwaters. A continuous meandering causeway, elevated slightly above the river, offers a walk along the river`s edge and protects nearly an acre of newly-established wetlands with an expanded plant palette that enhances water quality and promotes wildlife and fish habitation. The design also leverages the site`s dramatic topography with a shaded grassy promontory, a new island reached by a pedestrian bridge, a kayak launch, exercise and picnic terraces, a collection of intimate &ldquo;break-out&rdquo; lounges off the pathways, and a dramatic cantilevered overlook that hovers 25 feet above the wetlands and offers panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline. To address the park`s irregular perimeter, the design team strategically located program elements and resilient infrastructure &ndash; often combined &ndash; to maximize both use and performance. For example, a new multi-use green oval and an adjacent canopy structure define the most generously open part of the site and serve as key pieces of resilient landscape infrastructure. The oval was designed to be inundated during flooding events and detains water which drains back to the river. This green is framed by a continuous path and pleated steel shade canopy on the south side which follows the curve of the oval and offers shelter for a ferry stop and concession building. The roof integrates photovoltaic panels on its south-facing pleats to power the pavilion and park lighting. These pleats also collect stormwater that channels through biofiltration subsoils, improving water quality and reducing flood risks. Richly planted bio-swales, filled with a diverse mix of native plantings and engineered soils, extend deep into the neighborhood along adjacent, perpendicular streets.

 Thomas Balsley Associates/WEISS/MANFREDI

Hunter's Point

Hunters Point South Waterfront Park

 The architects talk about designing the waterfront Park, how they addressed the possible flooding post Sandy and some of the design features they incorporated into the park shelters. 

 Janet Echelman was commissioned to create the headlining sculpture for GLOW 2013, the art event for site-specific works on Santa Monica Beach. Lasting only one night - from dusk to dawn - the beach is transformed into a &ldquo;playground for thoughtful and participatory, temporary art.&rdquo; On the night of September 28, 2013, more than 150,000 people attended GLOW and participated in sculpting the earthwork beneath Echelman`s aerial sculpture, &ldquo;The Space Between Us,&rdquo; making it one of the largest public art events in the U.S. In an article published the morning after the event, The New York Times credited Echelman`s work for &ldquo;giving crafts a coolly conceptual edge.&rdquo; Echelman`s ground-breaking work utilized experimental elements, including shaped earth and an audio component that synced to a pulsating lighting program. The artist and her team collaborated with City Public Works staff to create carved sand indentations for visitors to enter and gaze up at the aerial sculpture, becoming a part of the immersive experience. Echelman views this commission as a point of growth and departure. &ldquo;The beach is the charged zone between human society and uncontrolled nature,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I`m interested in sculpting earth and sky, and placing ourselves in between. It`s the collision of heaviness and lightness, between our gravity-bound bodies which walk on sand, and the part of us which seeks to float in air, or in water.&rdquo; &ldquo;My goal was to invite people to have an ephemeral sensory experience without words - a moment of contemplation that can evoke preverbal memory and engage our Limbic brain.&rdquo; Produced by the Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division and the Santa Monica Arts Foundation, the goal of the evening was to &ldquo;break through the public`s preconceived notion of what art can be, encouraging both thoughtful contemplation and energetic participation,&rdquo; said GLOW organizers. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Santa Monica Beach

The Space Between Us

This is one of the capital improvement projects that came out of the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after the 9/11. The linchpin of all the multiple planning projects were the infrastructure improvements. The Port Authority rebuilt the Path Terminal and the MTA began redoing their two large terminals at South Ferry and Fulton Street. Fulton was the biggest challenge since a spider web of subway lines intersect at that point with dank corridors and staircases connecting them. It was a huge challenge to incorporate new standards for accessibility and make the subterranean spaces feel more welcoming. The solution was a huge skylight covering a 3 story atrium with upscale retail.

Fulton Street Station

Fulton Street Transit Center

 Janet Echelman's Earthtime sculpture series heightens our awareness of our interconnectedness with one another and our physical planet. Earthtime 1.78 Vienna in the MuseumsQuartier (MQ) - one of the largest cultural quarters in the world - celebrates the interconnection of sky and earth, old and new, humans and our physical world, bridging opposites with bold colors and soft curves that flow between its surroundings of baroque buildings and contemporary architecture. Earthtime 1.78 Vienna was installed in Vienna`s MQ between September and October 2021 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the MQ`s opening. The sculpture serves as a symbol of interconnectedness, composed of countless intertwined fibers. Each time a single knot moves in the wind, the location of every other knot in the sculpture`s surface is changed in an ever unfolding dance of human-made creation with the forces of nature beyond our control. To create the sculptural form, Echelman works with teams both inside and outside her studio. These include architects, designers, and model-makers in the studio, as well as an external team of aeronautical and structural engineers, computer scientists, lighting designers, landscape architects, and a fabrication team. Inside Echelman`s studio, the physical form of Earthtime 1.78 Vienna was digitally modeled with inspiration from a scientific data set describing a single geological occurrence -- an earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 -- which caused ripple effects around the globe and even sped up the earth's daily rotation. The number in the title refers to a measurement of time, as the earth`s day was shortened by 1.78 microseconds. Sculpture fabrication begins with braiding custom engineered fibers which are fifteen times stronger than steel by weight. These custom-colored twines are knotted both by loom and by hand, and every rope is spliced using centuries-old craft techniques. Connecting the past with the present, the artwork takes ancient methods to a new urban scale. The Earthtime series is a global traveling project. To date, the 1.78 sculpture has been installed in Madrid, Spain (2018), Dubai, UAE (2018), Beverly Hills, CA (2019), Bor&aring;s, Sweden (2021), Helsinki, Finland (2021), and Vienna, Austria (2021). Each installation has unique colored lighting designed to speak with its specific architectural and historic context. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

MuseumsQuartier

1.78 Vienna

 Earthtime 1.78 Helsinki was installed in Helsinki`s Senate Square for the month of August for the 2021 Helsinki Biennial. Janet Echelman's Earthtime sculpture series heightens our awareness of our interconnectedness with one another and our physical planet. The sculpture serves as a symbol of interconnectedness, composed of countless intertwined fibers. Each time a single knot moves in the wind, the location of every other knot in the sculpture`s surface is changed in an ever unfolding dance of human-made creation with the forces of nature beyond our control. To create the sculptural form, Echelman works with teams both inside and outside her studio. These include architects, designers, and model-makers in the studio, as well as an external team of aeronautical and structural engineers, computer scientists, lighting designers, landscape architects, and a fabrication team. Inside Echelman`s studio, the physical form of Earthtime 1.78 Helsinki was digitally modeled with inspiration from a scientific data set describing a single geological occurrence -- an earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 -- which caused ripple effects around the globe and even sped up the earth's daily rotation. The number in the title refers to a measurement of time, as the earth`s day was shortened by 1.78 microseconds. For this exhibition, Janet collaborated with Finnish sound and light artists throughout the pandemic to create a unique sound and projected light performance. Underwater microphones and tower-top wind sensors generated a data feed that influenced the changing light. The Helsinki Festival commissioned a live music performance underneath as well. Sculpture fabrication begins with braiding custom engineered fibers which are fifteen times stronger than steel by weight. These custom-colored twines are knotted both by loom and by hand, and every rope is spliced using centuries-old craft techniques. Connecting the past with the present, the artwork takes ancient methods to a new urban scale. The Earthtime series is a global traveling project. To date, the 1.78 sculpture has been installed in Madrid, Spain (2018), Dubai, UAE (2018), Beverly Hills, CA (2019), Bor&aring;s, Sweden (2021), Helsinki, Finland (2021), and Vienna, Austria (2021). Each installation has unique colored lighting designed to speak with its specific architectural and historic context. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Senate Square

1.78 Helsinki

 Janet Echelman`s Earthtime 1.78 Bor&aring;s sculpture was installed in Stora Torget Plaza in Bor&aring;s, Sweden as part of the Bor&aring;s Art Biennial between June and July 2021. The artwork is part of Echelman`s Earthtime Series which seeks to heighten our awareness about the way we are all interconnected with one another and our physical world. It explores the contrast between the forces we can understand and control with those we cannot, and the concerns of our daily existence within the larger cycles of time. Echelman`s studio modeled the physical form for &ldquo;1.78&rdquo; using a scientific data set about how a single geologic occurrence in one part of the world had ripple effects all over the world. They measured the change in wave heights of the ocean`s surface as they rippled across an entire ocean following an earthquake which originated off the coast of Japan in 2011. Its form is a manifestation of interconnectedness &ndash; when any one element in the sculpture moves, every other element is affected. The earth`s day was shortened as a result of this physical event and the length of time measured in microseconds - in this case, 1.78. Titles within the Earthtime series refer to that numerical measurement of time. Other sculptures include 1.26 and 1.8. &ldquo;I feel a need to find moments of contemplation in the midst of daily city life,&rdquo; Echelman said. &ldquo;If my art can create an opportunity to contemplate the larger cycles of time and remind us to listen to our inner selves, I believe this could be transformative.&rdquo; The monumental floating form of Earthtime 1.78 is composed of layers of fiber, braided and knotted together in vibrant hues that pulse with changing wind and weather to create a choreography of undulating color. At night, the sculpture comes to life with projected colored light. Lightweight and flexible, the sculpture is designed to travel to cities around the world as a physical manifestation of interconnectedness. To date, the 1.78 sculpture has been installed in Madrid, Spain (2018), Dubai, UAE (2018), Beverly Hills, CA (2019), Bor&aring;s, Sweden (2021), Helsinki, Finland (2021), and Vienna, Austria (2021). Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Stora Torget Plaza

1.78 Boras

Oregon Health & Sciences University

Brandeis University

Espacio Metropol Parasol

Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. It employs about 17,000 people in over 90 offices across 35 countries and has participated in projects in over 160 countries.

ARUP

Charles Rose and Susi Sanchez, of Charles Rose Architects, talk about the design of the Shapiro Campus Center, and how it fits into the architectural and environmental setting of the campus.

Charles Rose of Charles Rose Architects tells a story about early adjustments to the plan that had won the Campus Center design competition.

ARUP

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