Five innovative, green-friendly, student-designed light prisms will be unveiled along a
section of the Connective Corridor during a special opening ceremony at 7 p.m.,
Wednesday, March 25, in front of Syracuse Stage.
The event, coordinated by members of the Connective Corridor and SU's College of
Visual and Performing Arts, will be a celebration of the collaborative work between
Syracuse University and students at the SUNY College of Environmental Science
and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) who consulted with local business owners in a design
competition in spring 2008 leading to the final product. The event also seeks to
acknowledge Connective Corridor partners, including the East Genesee Regents
Association, City of Syracuse, SU, the Syracuse Public Art Commission, and
community residents and business owners who assisted in the research and judging
portions of the design competition.
The five solar-powered prisms are informational as well as aesthetic light sculptures
made of heavy-gauge steel and translucent polycarbonate panels. Each prism has six
triangular panels etched with graphical interpretations of historic events that
happened in Syracuse, taken from newspaper archives. Solar panels sit on top of the
prisms, soaking up energy during the day. A small light-sensitive mechanism is
designed to trigger the lights inside the prisms each evening as soon as darkness falls.
"Not only are the prisms an engaging, sustainable green way to illuminate the
Connective Corridor, but the collaborative process through which they were designed
symbolizes the partnership at the heart of the Corridor," says SU Chancellor and
President Nancy Cantor. "Community members, the City of Syracuse and faculty
and students from across SU and SUNY-ESF all brought their strengths to this
project to create a visually elegant lighting solution for the Corridor that also
recognizes and brings to life the community's history."
The five prisms will be installed in a curving line along the E. Genesee St.-Irving Ave.
intersection, leading the eye toward downtown Syracuse. Installation begins Tuesday,
March 24.
The final design was a result of the "Change Your View" charrette-an intense
period of time when students work together to solve a specific problem-that charged
the students with creating design proposals on how to bring a key section of the
Connective Corridor to life. The competition drew 39 SU and SUNY-ESF students
from 11 different majors. The students split up into six teams and worked around the
clock for three days, under the supervision of Michael McAllister, director of design
and innovation at VPA's COLAB, known at the time as the Center for
Multidisciplinary Design. COLAB's mission is to encourage students from various
disciplines to find fresh solutions to real-world problems by working with community
and industry partners. McAllister is also assistant professor of industrial design at
VPA.
"I find it particularly satisfying that the light prisms will be solar-powered," says
Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr., president of SUNY-ESF. "So, not only are we showcasing
art, community history, community connections and collaboration by several
different groups, but we are also maintaining our commitment to increase our use
and development of renewable energy resources."
The winning team included five VPA students: Greg Allen '08, an industrial and
interaction design alumnus; Mary Geiger '10, a design/technical theater major; Jessica
Lewis '08, an interior design alumnus; Barbara Livar '08, a fiber arts/material studies
alumnus; and Yelena Prusakova '10, an industrial and interaction design major. The
team also included Bruce Davison, a graduate student in SU's School of Architecture,
and Paul Brogna '08, a SUNY-ESF landscape architecture alumnus.
"These light prisms are the final product of our first charrette, which was so successful
it has become the model for how we continue to work at COLAB," says McAllister,
who chose the project based on a conversation he had with Marilyn Higgins, SU vice
president for community engagement and economic development, about a need for
aesthetic improvement along the Corridor. "When you see the finished work, it gives
you an idea of how intersecting students from many different disciplines can produce
dynamic, practical results to specific problems, such as the immediate need to
aesthetically enrich the Connective Corridor."
"The Syracuse Public Art Commission is pleased to have played a role in this
collaborative effort to bring more art to the streets of Syracuse," says SPAC
Chairperson Christine Capella-Peters. "This installation moves us forward toward the
goal of creating lively public spaces that spark interest and conversation."
Dennis Earle, adjunct professor in VPA's department of design and a project
manager at COLAB, created the finished, working version of the design with the help
of McAllister and Ron DeRutte, adjunct professor at VPA, resulting in the
7-foot-5-inch tall working prisms.
"The final design is lively and interesting, but also has a little something more to it, to
engage you," says Earle. "The prisms bring some vibrant color to the Corridor-both
in daylight and at night-but the bits of historical news articles recreated on the
panels provide some context-while still remaining fragments, a bit mysterious-to
be completed and given meaning by the viewer."
Allen was a fifth-year industrial design major looking for an exciting project
centering on public space for his thesis requirement when news of the charrette came.
"I got involved because I found the interdisciplinary makeup of the team very
appealing," he says. "I had never worked on a project with people outside my field,
so it was really inspiring, really neat, to see how all the different people with different
academic backgrounds interacted. Knowing now that our design is going to be
installed just tops the whole experience."
The Connective Corridor is a signature strip of cutting-edge cultural development
connecting the University Hill with downtown Syracuse. The Corridor will make
investments in key locations to support historic landmarks, cultural institutions and
private development in the city. These areas include the emerging arts districts along
East Genesee St. and the Near Westside; Forman Park, the Fayette Firefighter's
Memorial Park and Columbus Circle; the nightlife of Armory Square; and the Civic
Strip, where the Oncenter complex and the Everson Museum of Art tie into the center
of downtown. The Corridor will showcase these assets and ignite a resurgence of
economic development, tourism and residential growth.
For more information about the Connective Corridor, visit
http://www.connectivecorridor.com/
