365 feet above Rose Kennedy Greenway lies a suspended monumental sculpture by Janet Echelman, taking over the space of the elevated highway that once divided the city’s downtown from its water front. Made by hand-splicing rope and knotting twine into an interconnected mesh of more than a half-million nodes, the sculpture is set to be on view throughout October 2015. Janet Echelman describes her sculpture’s form as echoing through the history of its location, adding: “The three voids recall the ‘Tri-Mountain’ which was razed in the 18th-century to create land from the harbor.
© Peter Vanderwarker
The colored banding is a nod to the six traffic lanes that once overwhelmed the neighborhood, before the Big Dig buried them and enabled the space to be reclaimed for urban pedestrian life.” The sculpture appears to be floating above the traffic and the pedestrian park over which it resides, although the rope structure is delicately strong. The colors seem to play a very strong role in the presentation and in the effect of the installation, providing smooth and delicate additions to the aerial scene of the area.
© Peter Vanderwarker
By: Hazem Raad
Hazem Raad is an editor at Arch2O with a keen interest in the intersection of urban planning, politics, and technology in the Middle East. Holding a Master of Science in Urban Planning from The Bartlett's Development Planning Unit at University College London, his editorial lens is shaped by critical inquiry into contestation, border-making practices, and the role of big data in urban governance. Hazem’s writing explores how spatial dynamics and digital infrastructures intersect with socio-political realities, bringing analytical depth and regional nuance to Arch2O’s urban discourse.