Karen Guzak : Public Art Commissions : Seatac Airport Elevators
*
Karen Guzak
OVERLAKE TRANSIT CENTER

Library exterior
COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY

RAILING DETAIL
COUNCIL CHAMBERS RAILING

DETAIL
SOUTHERN OREGON STATE
Etched Glass Enclosures for
Four Elevators at SeaTac Airport, 1998


ELEVATOR
MEDIUM: ETCHED GLASS, PAINTED STEEL TRUSSES AND RAILINGS, STAINLESS STEEL ENTRY; SIZE: 14'DEEP X 24' wide x 8' HIGH

As the artist member of the design team for four new elevators retrofitted in existing spaces at SeaTac Airport, my job was to generate ideas that could be implemented through sculptural means - ideas that integrated and complemented the engineering necessities. I started with questions: asking about the meaning, intent, viewpoint, and function.

The airport is at the nexus of the northwest, so I proposed a glass elevator surround that was evocative of the icy heights of Mt. Rainier above green forests. The volcanic mountains of Washington state are often the first sights for the air traveler. The mountains mark place and symbolize the essential height and verticality that the elevators represent within the public areas of the airport.

The team agreed to revealing layers and hidden mechanisms. We wanted to interrupt the grid-based building with a more organic, translucent gesture. A decision was made to cut through floors, use strong vertical truss forms, and shape glass to create airy mountain vistas.

We worked in that arena between architecture, engineering, and art – with art often at risk. No part could be eliminated without losing the whole. This integrated approach resulted in a project that invested this functional site with symbolic content, beauty, and innovative ways of thinking about place and space

Other Design Team Members: Alex Kimball, [lead for Sclater Kimball Architects], Alpha Engineering, AKB Consulting Engineers, Sparks & Associates, Interface Engineering, Matson Whitacre, Inc, Lerch, Bates, & Associates, Inc.

::: ©1999-2006 Karen Guzak :::