BRISBANE DOMESTIC TERMINAL CAR PARK
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
ARTIST Ned Kahn
ARTWORK Turbulent Line
CLIENT Brisbane Airport Corporation
ARCHITECT Hassell (Sydney)
CURATORIAL UAP Studio, Natasha Davies
DESIGN UAP Studio, Daniel Clifford
CONSTRUCTION UAP Workshop
YEAR Completion 2011
Urban Art Projects (UAP) is collaborating with established American artist Ned Kahn, Hassell Architecture (Sydney) and the Brisbane Airport Corporation to create an eight-storey, 5000 sqm kinetic façade for the car park of Brisbane’s Domestic Terminal.
Viewed from the exterior, the car park’s entire eastern side will appear to ripple fluidly as the wind activates 250,000 suspended aluminium panels. As it responds to the ever-changing patterns of the wind, the façade will create a direct interface between the built and natural environments. It is further embellished with rippling lines from the surface of the Brisbane River: a site-specific reference to the city’s most iconic natural feature.
Inside the car park, intricate patterns of light and shadow will be projected onto the walls and floor as sunlight passes through the kinetic façade. The design also provides practical environmental benefits such as shade and natural ventilation for the interior.
This large-scale work will create a mesmerising impression for passengers emerging from the terminal, arriving by car, or on the elevated Airtrain platform. It is expected to become a memorable icon for the city of Brisbane.
NED KAHN
Artist
With a background in environmental science, Ned Kahn explores natural phenomena through his art.
Kahn’s works typically incorporate wind, fluid dynamics, optics, and other features of physics. He has completed numerous public art commissions throughout the world. Many of these artworks reveal a hidden force in the site such as wind.
Kahn’s artworks strike an emotional chord, reminding the viewer of nature’s capacity to inspire appreciation, serenity, wonder, and awe.
Working out of his studios in Sebastopol, California, he has designed exhibits for museums in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan and has completed numerous public art commissions. In recent years, much of his work has focused on creating artworks that are activated by the movement of wind, water or light. He views these artworks as “detectors” in that reveal they some invisible or unnoticed phenomena
and capture the mysteriousness of the world around us.
