2022
Powder Coated Steel
30 Foot Diameter, 20 Foot Length
Eliot-Hine Middle School
1830 Constitution Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002
Commissioning Partners:
Washington DC DGS
Perkins-Eastman DC
CARVALHO + GOOD, PLLC
Turner Construction
Installed in a publicly accessible location outside of Eliot-Hine Middle School on the corner of 17th Place and C St. NE., Growth Patterns is intended to serve as functional sculpture. Connections to nature are a common theme in our work, exemplified here in both the functionality of an outdoor classroom space, as well as in the driving concepts and visual themes.
In plan, we were guided by imagery of dried cracked mud and plant cell structure, a contrast symbolizing the fragility of life on this planet. Water, the element that rejuvenates dried land into fertile ground to nourish these plant cells is referenced in an elevation view of the work. From far away, the sculpture appears thin and light at the surface, a nod to the thin layer of cohesion that forms on top of water. The undulation of the wave-like seats is algorithmically designed by lofting between phase shift on three offset linear wave forms. We chose these colors to further represent water and sky. It's interesting to note that both of these vital elements of our planet are blue because shorter, smaller waves of light scatter more easily.
We provided an additional sculpture for the courtyard in the same style, visually linking the gated atrium with the exterior public space.