Client: BOMBARDIER INC.

Overview

JANUS PORTAL by Miami based artist Troy Simmons, is a major new sculptural
installation in partnership with jet manufacturer Bombardier and Miami-Dade County Art in
Public Places. A permanent addition to Bombardier’s new service center at the Miami- Opa Locka
Executive Airport, Simmons’ massive 22 foot concrete aluminum and steel sculpture was inspired
by his 2018 sculpture VORTEX. The works share similarities through the mediums used, the
distinct aluminum extrusions defining the interiors of each piece and exhibit the artist’s perennial
interests in brutalist architecture and organic forms. JANUS PORTAL greatly expands the scale of
VORTEX and takes additional inspiration from the architecture of Bombardier’s service center,
designed by the architecture firm Jacobs.

Goals

The free standing, cantilevered structure serves as an interior entryway to Bombardier’s new state-of-the-art service center. The concrete exterior, hand-fabricated by Simmons, is reminiscent of the abraded urban surfaces which the artist specifies as the foundation of modern development, struggle and growth. Beneath this brutalist facade, an undulating network of aluminum extrusions guides the eye through a corpus of pathways, appearing simultaneously synthetic and biological. The resulting installation inverts the building’s structure and dimensions to create a dream-like environment that captures the excitement of destinations to come.