A light stone mosaic surface with concentric circles features three large, contemporary abstract sculptures. Their tall, curved forms seem to glide upward, casting elongated shadows that create a dynamic play of shapes and light across the patterned ground.

Glide

Like all public art, Glide is an expression of the human experience, designed to evoke an emotional response and bring people together. Positioned in a central thoroughfare between accommodation, retail and dining, Glide offers residents of Moderna Academic Village in Florida a striking meeting place and shelter from the heat of the sun.

Design details

Discovery

When architects Mill Creek initially approached us with the commission, they provided a location for the sculpture and a budget. To build a detailed brief together, we revisited their original mood board and discussed the importance of community interaction and playfulness, as well as the possibility of working with the position of the sun to create striking shadows and shade.

A collage shows abstract black-and-white sketches, shadow patterns, and playful contemporary sculptures. An aerial view reveals a plaza with curved stone benches where people glide through the space, casting long shadows and engaging in creative community movement.

Design

The rusty-hued steel combined with the cut-outs and waney edges creates a playful warmth which echoes the development’s community focus, while visually recognizable natural forms bring about variation, harmony and balance.

Five abstract pencil sketches depict tall, geometric or jagged stone-like structures that glide skyward, evoking contemporary abstract sculpture. Small human figures stand nearby for scale, highlighting the varied shapes from clustered blocks to spire-like columns.

A pencil sketch shows a small figure standing near tall, curved buildings reminiscent of contemporary abstract sculpture. The rounded forms, similar to those at Moderna Academic Village in Florida, tower over the person, evoking scale and solitude.

Development

Humidity and rain can cause mild steel to leach in its first year, so to counter this we spoke to Mill Creek about laying a pea gravel resin floor, which would drain away the leached steel and frame the sculpture.

Delivery

As with all our projects overseas, we worked closely with on-site contractors to understand exact location requirements, from footings to bolt sizes. This then allowed us to create general assembly drawings for install, which included a template for the positioning of each panel.