Client: Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Completion date: 2018
Artwork budget: $90,000
Project Team
Artist
Andrea Polli
Industry Resource
Morgan Barnard
Industry Resource
Eric Geusz
Industry Resource
Technique Architectural Products
Industry Resource
Flyspace Productions
Overview
Garrison Canal turns the Pittsburgh alleyway Garrison Place into an imaginary underwater future world of big data. Visitor to the Canal can “swim” below waves of thousands of shimmering lights that transform color and animate in response to real-time changes in local weather conditions.
Goals
The project is part of a larger initiative to enliven Downtown alleyways with lighting, artwork, and pedestrian enhancements.
Process
Andrea Polli is the lead artist on the project and worked with Morgan Barnard in the role of technical designer. Eric Geusz developed the software that used data to control the lights. Andrea Polli developed the overall concept and Morgan Barnard created visual mockups and did the initial design work on the structure for the LED array above the alley. Technique Architectural Products took these designs and created the fabricated aluminum struts that suspended the LEDs above the alleyway.