Chain of Ether - ResMed Corporation, San Diego, CA- 2009

A 25-foot tall by 110-foot long, wind-activated artwork that consists of 3960, 9”x 9” squares of aluminum chainmail. These hanging panels of metallic fabric are extremely lightweight and responsive to subtle changes in the wind. The kinetic facade extends inside the building and covers a floor to ceiling wall inside the lobby where it is animated by the ventilation system of the building. The artwork was designed in collaboration with Davis Davis Architects in San Diego.

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Microturbines - Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery - 2009

An array of 1008 small, extruded acrylic turbines that spin in the wind. The translucent white plastic surfaces capture light and shadow as the turbines respond to the passing breezes. Even though each turbine is free to spin independently, adjacent turbines sometimes align into organized patterns.

 

 

Vertical Canal - Rijkswaterstaat, Utrecht, Netherlands - 2008

A collaboration with the architecture firm, Cepezed, on the design of the entry facade of the Dutch Water Departments new headquarters in Utrecht. Intended to suggest a transparent vertical plane of water, the artwork consists of thousands of clear plastic panels suspended from a minimal stainless steel cable net so that they undulate in the wind. The panels are almost invisible until they move and catch light and color from the sky. The artwork is intended to complement the facade of the building which is made out of semitransparent, “cushions” of ETFE plastic that are pressurized with air.

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Wind Leaves - Milwaukee Waterfront, Milwaukee, WI. 2006

A series of 7, 30’ tall, aluminum and stainless structures that turn in the wind and serve as a symbolic hinge between the Milwaukee Art Museum and the new Discovery World / Pier Wisconsin complex. The surfaces of the sculptures are covered by thousands of small stainless steel disks that ripple in the wind. Ball bearings in the support columns allow the sculptures to rotate and reveal the direction of the wind. Hand wheels on the support columns also let viewers turn the the sculptures and interact with the artwork. The columns are surrounded by a series of benches that can be played like a xylophone and a musical instrument that is played by dropping pebbles through a matrix of stainless steel nails.

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Wind Silos - International Trade Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. 2006

An 80’ tall by 450’ long facade of a parking structure was covered with a series of undulating metal screens evocative of grain silos. The corrugated and perforated stainless steel screens that form the silo structures were designed to allow ventilation of the parking structure while creating a visual screen. A 16’ tall band, composed of thousands of wind-activated, 6-inch diameter stainless steel disks, runs the entire length of the facade, rising and falling with the contours of the silos. The polished surfaces of the disks capture the colors of the sky and sunlight.

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Fragmented Dunes - Mesa Art Center, Mesa, AZ. 2005

A wind-animated shade screen for the new performing arts center that consists of thousands of 9-inch squares of perforated aluminum mounted on low friction hinges so that the entire surface of the facade responds to the wind. Each moving panel is perforated with thousands of different sized holes that, when viewed from a distance, create a photographic mosaic of sand dune images. When sunlight passes through the screens, intricate shadow images of the dunes are projected onto the walls and floor of the lobby. The design evolved from a collaboration with BOORA and DWL Architects and the engineering firm Paragon.

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Fragmented Sea - Mesa Art Center, Mesa, AZ. 2005

A second wind-animated shade screen for the arts center is composed of thousands of blue-anodized, 3 inch square, aluminum flaps that move in the wind and create the illusion that the building has been submerged in a vertical sheet of rippling blue water. As the blue- anodized flaps pivot in and out with the passing breezes they reflect different amounts of light from the sky, changing from deep blues when they are angled down to bright, light-blue glints when they catch the sun, with countless subtle shades of blue in between. The result is a blue-tinted, animation of the ever-changing patterns of the wind. A collaboration with BOORA and DWL Architects and the engineering firm Paragon.

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Articulated Cloud - Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, Pittsburgh, PA. 2004

Composed of thousands of translucent, white plastic squares that move in the wind, the artwork is intended to suggest that the building has been enveloped by a digitized cloud. The optical qualities of the skin change dramatically with the weather and the time of day. The articulated skin is supported by an aluminum space frame so it appears to float in front of the building. The design evolved through a collaboration with the architects, Koning / Eizenberg.

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Wind Portal - San Francisco International Airport BART Station, San Francisco, California. 2003

This artwork consists of 200,000 mirrored disks which respond to the air currents generated by passing trains and the natural wind passing through the BART Station at the San Francisco Airport. The stainless steel disks encircle a 55' diameter by 12' deep hole in the main level of the station, through which escalators and stairs run. The myriad of tiny mirrors reflect colors from people's clothing as they pass through the portal, creating an ever-changing mosaic of light, sculpted by the wind. This project was a collaboration with the architectural firm, MBT and involved extensive coordination with BART and the general contractor for the airport. Funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission, the artwork was completed in 2003.

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Technorama Facade - Technorama, The Swiss Science Center, Winterthur, Switzerland. 2002

In 2002, Ned Kahn worked with the staff of Technorama, the major science center in Switzerland, and their architects, Durig and Rami, to create a facade for the building which is composed of thousands of aluminum panels that move in the air currents and reveal the complex patterns of turbulence in the wind. The facade is visible from the large urban plaza in front of the museum.

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Wind Veil - Gateway Village, Charlotte, North Carolina. 2000

A 260’ long by 6-story tall facade of a new parking garage in Charlotte, North Carolina was covered with 80,000 small aluminum panels that are hinged to move freely in the wind. Viewed from the outside, the entire wall of the building appears to move in the wind and creates the impression of waves in a field of metallic grass. Inside the building, intricate patterns of light and shadow, similar to the way light filters through the leaves of trees, are projected onto the walls and floor as sunlight passes through this kinetic membrane. In addition to revealing the ever-changing patterns of the invisible wind, the artwork was designed to provide ventilation and shade for the interior of the parking garage. Commissioned by Bank of America. Completed in August, 2000.

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