POEM FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Factoria Transfer Station
2013 Design, completion of construction
2015 King County facility
In the entry/lobby area of the administrative and staff building within the facility, a poem written by collaborator Margi Berger is visually presented in a graphic layout that enlivens the words plus interacts with the architecture of the entry. A second collaborator, graphic artists, Lynn Robb, assisted in laying out the poem. In the primary location around the doors, the poem will be read from the outside as one enters, A second location, around the corner from the doorway, the poem is presented on a set of three stacked panes and will be read as a complete set of lines from inside the lobby.
The lettering’s varying scales establishes a unified composition that takes advantage of the physical design of the windows and the graphic layout of each line. Consideration is given to how the lines can be read, and to creating a relational interplay between both lines and words within the lines.
The lettering interacts with available light by casting shadows on the interior floor and wall. The shadowing will shift and at times overlap (with correct and reverse lettering) during days with sunlight/ bright light and seasonally, as the location of the sun changes, thus animating the interior of the lobby variably on certain days and times.
