Text
fragments and letterforms, etched on the glass façade of Lattie F.
Coor Hall, are part of the latest, and largest, work of public art on campus.
Chicago artist BJ Krivanek, commissioned by project architects Gensler and Jones Studio, selected letters from several Latin-based, Native American and Asian languages, as well as numbers and punctuation marks, to represent the potential of language.
Krivanek designed a pattern of repeating symbols that are sandblasted on the inside of 12-foot glass modules. Depending on the time of day, the text fragments are then cast on an inner, opaque wall. The modules create a sheer glass curtain wall that cover the east and west facades, and wrap around sections of the north and south sides of the building.
Krivanek, who talked to many of the building’s users when designing the artwork, added a single word, EXPLORE, which is cut in steel and suspended from the roof of the building. As the sun passes overhead, the text’s shadow sweeps across the west façade.
This project funded by the university’s Percent-for-Art program, recently received a 2005 Honor Award from the Society for Environmental Graphic Design.
