What and Where

As a legacy of the Bay to Park Paseo and lasting imprint of World Design Capital 2024, a 45-foot-tall and 65-foot-wide Butterfly art installation is preparing to take flight atop the iconic Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge. The designer, Safdie Rabines Architects chose the Hermes Copper butterfly to bring awareness to a native butterfly whose  populations have become threatened due to wildfires, drought, and climate change.  The installation will use a series of mesh panels tensioned between the existing cable stays to create the form of the butterfly. Within the mesh, colored tabs are fastened to allow for airflow through the mesh, creating an illusion of movement as the tabs oscillate in the onshore breeze.

In addition to integrating a vision of nature into downtown’s urban landscape, this design reminds us of  the parallels between the migrating butterflies and the people who live their lives in our united region along the Mexico-United States border.  

To learn more the project, visit the website at: Bay to Park Paseo Project

PARTNERS:

Safdie Rabines Architects, TYLIN, UDG Projects