Client: Trammell Crow Companies/Park District

Overview

Commissioned by Trammell Crow Company for Park District, the 316 stainless steel sculpture is 8‘8” tall by 30’ long by 8’ wide. The sculpture is hand formed, hand cut, hand sanded, and hand polished to a highly reflective finish. The fountain base is made of Fuerstenstein granite from a Kusser-owned quarry in the Bavarian region of Germany. For the artists, “Twist” is an invitation to look deeper and incorporate various perspectives as well as an encouragement to seek new challenges and embrace opportunities.

Goals

Park District is located on the north side of Dallas; widely used Klyde Warren Park, and the sculpture is intended to invite park visitors into the courtyard as well as greet workers, residents, shoppers and diners on a daily basis. The 360-view of the plaza location was considered when designing the long, twisted shape. The colors and brightness of the sculpture vary throughout the day, and there is a dynamic experience when driving by the narrow end of the sculpture facing the park - the light travels across the curves to create an illusion of movement. Another experiential goal for the artwork was to have a pleasing auditory experience, so the cut and the design of the marble base was created to enhance sounds from the water falling and moving throughout the installation.

Process

Brad Oldham and Christy Coltrin rotated a conventional water-wall concept to capture and accentuate the surrounding environment while encouraging interaction with the viewer. After modeling the sculpture in their downtown Dallas studio, Oldham worked onsite with the foundry to hand sculpt the piece at full scale. Then a fiberglass mold was created and stainless steel hammered into shape. The hammered pieces were welded together and hand polished to a reflective finish. The artists then worked with Kusser FountainWorks to create a custom granite fountain. Oldham oversaw the 3-day installation of the sculpture and fountain.

Additional Information

Park District and its many unique points of difference, including "Twist", have been recognized for the Best Office Development of 2018 from the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association, and the Best of 2018 by Real Estate Forum magazine. The downtown, park-adjacent location requires both business and community consideration as it is a city-wide amenity and destination.