landscape architecture and public art
Project Type: Immersive Light Art Installation, Data Driven Light Art with Projection Mapping, Public Programming
Public Launch: April 24, 2021 at the Train Shed in Sawyer Yards
Partners: Project space provided by Sawyer Yards Arts Campus and supported in part by the Houston Arts Alliance and the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
The Bayou Beacon is an environmental light sculpture that expresses water fluctuations of White Oak Bayou. This project uses water quality monitoring data to express water level and flow in a para-metrically designed light sculpture installed in the train shed at Sawyer Yards.
Houston’s bayous shape the city. The bayous fluctuate with varying levels of rainfall, but that action of moving and flowing stormwater is always happening in the background.
We designed the Bayou Beacon with the hope of bringing to light the inherent resilience of the bayous as highly functional green infrastructure.
Special Thanks
Many collaborators contributed to bringing this work to fruition. Fuko Nara, Assistant Designer at Falon Land Studio, led the creative coding and technology components as well as created the animation and hand-built the scaled model prototypes for previous iterations of the installation. Clint Allen, of New Aspect Design, consulted on the projection mapping, theater lighting components, and projection screen fabrication. Matt Felsen, independent creative technologist in Brooklyn, provided early technology consultation for the data expression design. Grace Zuninga, Creative Director at Sawyer Yards, provided the space to us and supported the marketing efforts for the event. Sara Van Buskirk and Jacob Spacek provided installation and de-installation assistance for custom built components. Projectors and lighting components provided by 4Wall.
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