Arts: San Diego

The Port of San Diegocontinues to enhance the waterfront of San Diego Bay with public art.

The next installation will be seamlessly integrated into the Lane Field North hotel project with structural art walls that will wrap around an above-ground parking garage.

The board of port commissioners approved the artwork, titled "Ripples," at its October 14 meeting.

The $130 million Lane Field North hotel project is under construction on port property at North Harbor Drive at Broadway, a prominent site known as the first home of the San Diego Padres. It will feature 17 floors, 400 hotel rooms, a fitness center and a swimming pool in addition to 27,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

The art piece consists of a series of fixed blades of aluminum that were individually cut in patterns that resemble the graphs created by daily charts that depict rising and falling tides.

"The neutral color and reflectiveness of the aluminum will create a visually kinetic structure that will change throughout the day and look different depending on where a viewer is standing," said Yvonne Wise, the Port of San Diego public art curator. "We believe the artwork will be a unique optical experience and become an unmistakable landmark near the waterfront."

"Ripples" artist David Franklin has completed a variety of public and private commissions that have been exhibited in New York, Seattle, Alaska and Oregon.

The developers will pay for the $1 million artwork as part of a port requirement that tenants on Tidelands must allocate a percentage of their estimated development or redevelopment budget toward public art.

The project also includes a developer-funded public park on the east side of North Harbor Drive. The park, along with additional public areas on the hotel site, will add nearly two acres of public space to the waterfront.

The Lane Field North hotel project is expected to be open in 2016.

The "Ripples" façade will be will be part of a hotel project under development by a San Diego port tenant.
Source/Port of San Diego