Sponsors: Cleveland Public Art and Great Lakes Science Center
Dru McKeown
The approach to the competition was at first to create a simple plaza or sculpture that would envelope the base of the tower. Upon further examination it was decided that this would be inappropriate as it did not address primary concerns such as inadequate public space, composition for the entry to the science center and creation of a place that would be easily seen and identified from the nearby freeway especially at night. It was then deemed that to create a plaza large enough to function as a lecture or gathering space a redesign of the green space in front of the Science Center would allow the most flexibility of use.
An axis was then created centering upon the proposed location for the wind turbine tower. Instead of cutting through the proposed plaza the axis would consist of concrete pillars which would punctuate the axis and then encircle the plaza, defining the boundary while creating a permeable edge. The pillars were to step up in height while they moved towards the plaza and would be lit on the interior face line of the axis (to the plaza) which would light the plaza at night, the base of the turbine tower as well as creating a dramatic series of lit and backlight forms that would obscure the face of the Science Center enough to allow it to visually move behind the wall when one is traveling on the freeway.