Client: The City of Stockton, CA

Overview

This public art design consists of three distinct elements integrated throughout a new parking structure in downtown Stockton, California. The most prominent element is the 5-story illuminated entrance column at the northwest corner of the building.

Goals

With the application of fiberglass column covers and integrated LED light strips, the main column element is the entrance feature for the building – a landmark for the use of the facility and a beacon for patrons of downtown Stockton. The column begins with vertical “flutes” that evolve to become organic “fins,” acknowledging the agricultural history of Stockton while referring to the City’s historic roots. The column covers are shaped so as to appear to grow up and out of the fluted column, revealing the emergence of botanical forms. The LED lights, hidden inside the translucent "reveals" between column fins, allow the column to glow from within.

Process

The design of the column covers was a collaboration with a custom fiberglass fabricator. In order to create the intended effect, modular fiberglass elements were developed with specific levels of texture and translucency. These were formed to fit over a structural steel skeleton that supported the banks of colored LED light fixtures.