Adam // Paikowsky

Remnants of Water

There once was a time when Arizona was under an ocean. Volcanic eruptions, over millions of years, filled this ocean basin, transforming the area into a floodplain. Today, the remnant of the ocean is still present as fresh water flows from the perennial springs of White Mountain but turns salty as it courses through Black River.

In times of incremental change, it can be hard to discern direct disruption or the subtly rippling connections from the past into the future. Remnants of Water seeks to bring to attention water scarcity and transformation as a global and ever more relevant phenomenon.

Remnants of Water is a conceptual, site specific installation that leverages technology to create a light filled oasis to draw in the pedestrian and enchant even the most dedicated enthusiast.

The beauty of the installation is in its simplicity which stems from the material and technology decisions made in the upfront. Composed of soft whites, deep blues and reflective metallic, the installation creates a consistent palette while leveraging the natural resources at hand. By using mirrored panels as well as brushed aluminum and a diffuse white cast acrylic, it will capture and refract the sunlight as it passes overhead. These materials arrayed angularly in tandem with a varying angle of reflection will cause caustic artifacts to be thrown around each floating segment of the installation, naturally undulating with the flow of the canal.

Once the sun dips below the horizon, the neutrality of the fabricated components will absorb the brilliant coloration of the sunset until plunged into relative darkness. At which point, targeted external lighting (3000K-5000K range) will aid in its caustic diffusion and performance well into the evening. These lights will be programmed to move up and down the installation, casting shadow and creating pockets of brilliance.

The fabricated aluminum structure design is based on a computational growth algorithm fed by geologic data. It will be composed of a series of laser cut aluminum panels riveted together to form the smaller cells and finally assembled to create a larger crystalline structure. These cells will be clad with mirrored acrylic panels on the interior faces, white cast acrylic to the sky and open to the world on the lateral exterior.

The Scottsdale Waterfront is an outcropping of human-driven innovation and pioneering thought cultivating growth in infrastructure and culture. Similarly, Remnants of Water seeks to resemble a natural formation and the cultural phenomenon that occurs in its proximity while simultaneously sectioned to reveal its intricate and beautiful artificialities.

Canal Convergence 2018 Finalist