Go with the Flow

Art that puts you in tune with the tides and the moon.

“Even in the midst of industry there are opportunities for change,” says Robert M. Horner, the Seattle-based artist and architect who was selected to create public artwork for the City of Tacoma’s Center for Urban Waters, a 51,205-square-foot building under construction on the east side of the Thea Foss Waterway.

Horner’s concept is a trapezoidal tidal resonance chamber constructed from rammed earth, a sustainable material with “amazing insulation properties.” One of his objectives for the piece is to create a form that “encourages people to be in the moment by accentuating qualities of light and sound.” Horner advocates following the path of least resistance and striving toward an ecologically balanced collective consciousness. Bringing people into the present is the fi rst step toward greater environmental awareness, he explains. He hopes his artwork will draw people inward, away from the noisy industrial site, toward a more contemplative chamber that evokes a tidal pool.

The chamber walls will be lined with clay, sand, aggregate and stones, recalling the strata of the estuary banks. Glass tubing in the entryway and chamber will allow light into the space. Designed with a submergible pump, the chamber will fill and drain in sync with the lunar cycle and the tides. “We can do all sorts of things to the waterfront,” he says, “but the tide is still going up and down.”

All renderings by Robert M. Horner