catherine widgery

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Liquid Echo, 1999

Liquid Echo is an environmental work installed at 750 Bay Street in downtown Toronto in June of 1999, commissioned by H and R Developments as part of the program of integration of art and architecture for the City of Toronto. The entire plaza that is over 100 ft. long by about 33 ft. wide is designed as part of the work. The vent shafts to underground parking across the front of the site, that would have been massive concrete planters in the original plans, were razed and replaced with circular openings that house the supporting structure for the twenty-four spiral cut columns that turn to create the impression of a water fall.

All the language of the elements in this work is a translation of the experience of nature. My goal is to find a language and materials appropriate for the urban environment. Large boulders were cut and reassembled along the grid of the pavers to be seating in the warm weather. Inlaid into the pavers are sections of circles made from stainless steel to suggest the way light bounces off of water that has been disturbed. Small groves of honey locusts (on platforms to minimize the massive planters necessary for this site) frame the space and the stairs provide additional seating.