Client: The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo

Overview

At the center of Toledo, Ohio’s newly developed Summit St, floats a reflective blur of metal and light. If you take the time to walk over to the new median where it is suspended, the center of the “blur” feels like a captured moment of blue sky. The art piece/shade canopy/light study, called Upon Reflection (the Sky’s the Limit), is anchored to the ground via 2 large steel masts. From the masts, 4 stainless steel rods reach out to hold a large ring in place 12′ above the ground, directly above the center point between the masts. This ring supports a nearly 40′ long double walled oval made from a series of radially aligned steel panels. All the exterior panels of the oval are angled towards the ground, and are made from mirror polished stainless steel. Offset inside of this set of panels is a set of interior panels angled towards a central oculus, and powder coated to match the blue of the Ohio sky. Hidden midway between the inner and outer panels is a series of LED fixtures that slightly change the inner panels’ blue hue over the course of the day, mirroring tonal shifts of the sky above – helping to give the sense that for a moment, shrouded by the reflective exterior and enhanced by the blue of the interior, the sky above is mere feet (rather than miles) away.

Goals

The City of Toledo, Ohio commissioned StudioKCA to create a shade structure at the heart of their new downtown development. 'Upon Reflection (the Sky’s the Limit)’ uses mirrored stainless steel to define a shallow, floating dome painted and lit to mimic the sky's color and tones over the course of a day. The goal of this art piece/shade canopy was to create a small area of respite and reflection in what is a fairly busy thoroughfare through downtown Toledo - a place where people can catch a breath and feel a sense of weightlessness and possibility with the outside world lost in reflection, and the sky so near and present.
Because mechanical light was incorporated into the piece and that light was programmed to shift slightly over time, the blue interior feels like a captured moment from a sunny Ohio day- even at night or when it's raining.