‘The Looking Place’, Concept model, Yellow Ribbon Greenway Public Art Seating Node
I was selected to work as the artist with landscape architects at HTFC to design a seating node for an informal viewing area under the Winnipeg airportʼs main flight path, where it intersects with the Greenway path. Our goal was to create a sense of place by creating a design which fused art and landscape together as one.
The concept was inspired by our experience of the site, where we found ourselves wishing we could get up higher for a better view and also wanting shelter from the wind. At the same time we wanted to highlight the openness of the sky and the prairie. I was taken with the colourful and fantastic-looking runway lighting towers, windsocks, and airfield markers; this inspired something of a 'Dr. Seuss meets the Airfield' approach. A flowing movement can be seen throughout the overall design, recalling the way air moves over and around wings in flight and the way the wind moves through the prairie.
The design is anchored around a sculptural shaping of the land. Various seating elements are set in and around the landform and its supporting walls. Whimsical wind-socks and kinetic sculptures show the power and direction of the wind, while plantings of wildflowers and native grasses wave and rustle in the breeze. The curving wing-walls in burnished aluminum are like a patchwork in metal; a collage of interesting scraps of old airplane panels, stylized aviation symbols, and ideas about flight and about looking. The use of silvery metal helps to integrate the intervention into the site, which contains a large amount of chain link fencing and industrial lighting towers. Playful pavement markings point to destinations near and far, picking up on the theme of navigation.
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