City of Phoenix, The State of Arizona has issued the following press release:
Five artists and artist teams have created six major new works of public art for the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s PHX SkyTrain stations and connector bridges. Designed to enhance the traveling experience for the millions of riders expected to use the SkyTrain, the large-scale works include terrazzo floors, glass murals and a sculptural ceiling installation.
The 44th Street, East Economy Lot and Terminal 4 SkyTrain stations, and 44th Street connector bridge feature unique terrazzo floors by Arizona artists Anne Coe, Daniel Martin Diaz, Fausto Fernandez and Daniel Mayer. Each floor was crafted by 25 skilled workers from Advance Terrazzo in Phoenix.
In addition to the artist-designed floors, the SkyTrain features large-scale glass murals by Daniel Mayer on the two pedestrian bridges connecting the SkyTrain station to Terminal 4, and a sculptural ceiling installation by the international artist team of Michael Parekowhai, Mario Madayag and Paul Deeb on the ground floor atrium of the 44th Street station. The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture’s Public Art Program partnered with the city’s Aviation Department over the past five years to integrate the projects into the SkyTrain’s design and construction.
44th Street SkyTrain Pedestrian Bridge to Light Rail - Journey Through Nature
Tucson painter Daniel Martin Diaz designed the terrazzo floor of the pedestrian bridge linking the SkyTrain station to the 44th Street Light Rail platform. Known for his highly ornamental style of drawing and painting, Diaz combined floral and geometric patterns into a flowing design that leads passengers to an intricately detailed mandala at mid-bridge. Diaz added abalone shells, native desert stones and recycled glass to enrich the floor’s colors and textures. The floor is approximately 500 feet long and 40 feet wide.
44th Street SkyTrain Station Platform - Tailplane Patterns
Phoenix painter Fausto Fernandez, who relocated to Los Angeles in 2012, designed the terrazzo for the station platform. Known for paintings layered with colorful patterns and images inspired by the shapes of hand tools, Fernandez drew inspiration from airplane wings to create the floor’s rhythmic geometric pattern and sweeping bands of colors. He used 10 colors to create the design, and heightened the floor’s reflective qualities by adding aggregates of recycled, crushed glass and mirror. The floor is 440 feet long and ranges from 17 to 40 feet in width.
44th Street SkyTrain Station Ground Floor Ceiling - Blue Stratus
The name Blue Stratus refers to a low-altitude cloud that forms a continuous layer. Made with 6,610 individually shaped reflective aluminum panels, the 44th Street station’s ground floor ceiling was designed by the international artist team of Michael Parekowhai (New Zealand), Mario Madayag (WA) and Paul Deeb (AZ). Fabricated on site by Deeb, the array of panels combines six different colors of blue with highly reflective metal, and flickers with the movement of air. The artists drew inspiration for the constantly rippling installation from the blue desert sky and the ancient ocean that once covered and helped to shape the landscape of the desert Southwest. The sculptural ceiling is 150 feet long by 40 feet wide.
East Economy Lot SkyTrain Station Platform - Topo Magic
Apache Junction painter Anne Coe, a fourth-generation Arizonan, designed the station floor. Known for her whimsical use of paintings to tell stories, Coe based the wiggling shapes and fluid contours of her terrazzo design on the stylized depictions of Arizona rivers, canyons and landforms found in topographic maps. The floor is 450 feet long, ranges from 12 to 36 feet in width, and includes 11 distinct colors.
Terminal 4 SkyTrain Station Platform - Variable Order
Daniel Mayer, a book and letterpress artist who works and teaches at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts School of Art, created a terrazzo floor that features more than 1,000 letter forms (the font is lower case Garamond italics) and two large-scale free-form handwritten phrases inspired by the wonder of travel. The floor is 480 feet long, ranges from 17 to 40 feet in width, and features richly detailed aggregate of recycled crushed mirror, blue and clear glass, and abalone shell.
Terminal 4 SkyTrain Station Connector Bridges - Trace Elements
Daniel Mayer designed two large-scale glass murals, 115 feet by 9 feet, for the two pedestrian bridges connecting Terminal 4 to its SkyTrain station. Integrated into the design and construction of the bridges, each mural consists of 28 individual laminated glass panels celebrating the beauty of leaves from trees in Arizona. Mayer combined traditional and digital printmaking techniques with the art of stained glass to produce the murals’ 14 unique and richly detailed “leaf prints” on glass. The artist worked with Franz Mayer of Munich, one of the world’s leading specialists in architectural glass and mosaics, to produce the murals. The project also can be seen from the passenger drop-off level on the south side of Terminal 4.
All of the artists worked closely with the SkyTrain design and construction team of HOK, architects; Gannett Fleming, engineers; and the Hensel Phelps Construction Company; to incorporate the artworks into the design of the SkyTrain facilities. The projects were commissioned through the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Public Art Program with Aviation percent-for-art funds. The PHX SkyTrain opened to the public on April 8, 2013.
For further information please visit: http://www.phoenix.gov/
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