“Foreverglades” Miami International Airport, Concourse J, Miami, FL – 2008
Foreverglades is a monumental work of art, ten years in production and fabricated in four countries with the help of an army of assistants. The installation encapsulates the interior walls of the concourse with cast stone panels, dominates the floors with implicit text and illuminates the interior space with brilliantly hued art-glass. The Foreverglades installation was created as a public environment that is special to South Florida and, like the first words from Marjory Stonemen Douglas’ book, “The Everglades, River of Grass“ “is like no other.” Text from “River of Grass” is embedded in 65,000 sq. ft of the terrazzo floors allowing the visitors their choice of reading a single word or entire sections of prose. Pre-cast stone panels alternating with ribbons of glass that seem to mysteriously move like streaming water are seamlessly integrated into the architecture. Expansive curtain wall windows shower the concourse with brilliant color and highlight hundreds of tile sized photographic images of the rich Florida environment. Although the scale of the work is monumental, it remains an intricate and highly detailed art installation giving an intimate and personal experience to the viewer as well as a tone to the entire site.