Finalist’s Proposal for “Re-Imagining the Wall,” sponsored by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, 2010

Colonnade, a light installation at the entrance to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station in Downtown Brooklyn, marries technology to aesthetic elements to invite pedestrians into an urban fantasy world.  Prismatic reflective sheeting forms a field of overlapping columns outlined by white light and bright LEDs, extending endlessly back into an imaginary space. The lintel above the subway entrance, exposed to bright sunlight, will be faced with an extension of the same imagery made only of the reflective sheeting.

   

In the daytime, the shape, color and the reflective nature of the sheeting contribute to the work. As the sun sets, the sheeting’s prismatic crystals pick up the light and start to glow.  At night, the material picks up the ambient light provided by the street lamps.

Colonnade can also be successfully adapted for placement on a temporary sidewalk shed. The overhang would be faced with the reflective sheeting, in the same manner as the lintel at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, and the upper half of the rear walls would be fitted with the backlighting, LEDs and sheeting.