Firmament

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Title: Firmament
Photo Credit: Katya Horner
Lead Artist(s):

Description:

Discovery Green captivated downtown visitors with Firmament, a vibrant canopy of LED lights by acclaimed Burning Man artist Christopher Schardt. Firmament is a 52-foot wide, canopy of 21,600 LED lights, suspended from a 42-foot high aluminum tower. The tower is elevated on six legs forming huge equilateral triangles with the ground. At its pinnacle, a 21” diameter LED ball serves as a beacon and is visible from long distances. Visitors can gather under the structure as the LED lights display celestial, playful, psychedelic and brightly abstract images. A continually changing musical element engages visitors’ senses creating an enveloping, comforting, communal environment below. Schardt is a San Francisco-based sculptor, artist and computer programmer. He is widely known for his art installations created for Burning Man in Black Rock, NV, over the past 20 years. Schardt aims to create work that inspires connections and interaction. Discovery Green is a 12-acre park located in downtown Houston which was created by a public-private partnership between the City of Houston and the non-profit Discovery Green Conservancy. Designed by Hargreaves Associates, which also boasts London Olympic Park as one of its impressive urban projects, Discovery Green has won numerous awards for its architecture and design. Since the park opened in April 2008, it has welcomed more than 12 million visitors and hosted more than 6,000 public and private events. The Discovery Green Conservancy works with hundreds of programming partners to present three dynamic programming seasons each year most of which are free and open to the public. As a non-profit organization, the Conservancy raises all the funds needed for the programming that Houstonians enjoy. This public art work project was made possible by a grant from the Kinder Foundation.

PROJECT LOCATION

Park
Discovery Green is a 12-acre park located in downtown Houston
Discovery Green
1500 McKinney Street
Houston, TX 77010
United States

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PROJECT TEAM

Discovery Green Conservancy
PROJECT DETAILS

Permanent
75,000
Private
Installation
LED, Metal, Sound
2016
2017