Client: Bexar County Hospital District, dba University Health System
Location: San Antonio, TX, United States
Completion date: 2014
Artwork budget: $250,000
Project Team
Artist
Ed Carpenter
Architect
Perkins + Will
Perkins + Will
Other
Curtis Pittman
Ed Carpenter Studio
Other
Arleen Daugherty
Ed Carpenter Studio
Industry Resource
KPFF
KPFF Engineering
Industry Resource
Beilla Lighting Design
Beilla Lighting Design
Industry Resource
Albina Pipe
Albina Pipe
Industry Resource
Glass Strategies
Glass Strategies
Industry Resource
Carl Stahl DecorCable Inc.
Carl Stahl DecorCable Inc.
Industry Resource
CMC Structural
CMC Structural
Overview
“Foxglove” / University Hospital Sky Tower, San Antonio, TX 2014 / Lobby sculpture / 15′ x 30′ x 46′ /
Stainless steel net, painted steel rings, stainless steel cables and hardware, laminated glass, lighting, Terrazzo flooring. /
“Foxglove”, in the lobby of San Antonio’s new University Hospital Tower, is a glowing lantern greeting visitors from outside and inside. Its form may be reminiscent of the familiar wildflower whose graceful blossom can be found each spring around the country. The botanical term for foxglove is “digitalis”, once a common heart medicine derived from the foxglove plant. However, the blossom can be deadly if eaten, so there is an intriguing tension between foxglove’s therapeutic and toxic qualities—the type of delicate balance that is common in modern health care practice. The terrazzo floor, also designed by Ed Carpenter, extends the sculpture, and draws one into its realm to discover views up inside “Foxglove”.
Goals
“Foxglove”, in the lobby of San Antonio’s new University Hospital Tower, is a glowing lantern greeting visitors from outside and inside. Its form may be reminiscent of the familiar wildflower whose graceful blossom can be found each spring around the country. The botanical term for foxglove is “digitalis”, once a common heart medicine derived from the foxglove plant. However, the blossom can be deadly if eaten, so there is an intriguing tension between foxglove’s therapeutic and toxic qualities—the type of delicate balance that is common in modern health care practice. The terrazzo floor, also designed by Ed Carpenter, extends the sculpture, and draws one into its realm to discover views up inside “Foxglove”.