WaveSCAPE

Completion: 2012, Finalist

Location: Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, UT

Description: The Salt Lake Community College is a mosaic made up of over 60,000 individuals who come together to change themselves and others.

WaveSCAPE is an interactive mosaic that brings to light the impact these individuals have on the Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and on the world — whether it’s a student, faculty member, administrator, or community partner. As people walk by, it responds with waves of multicolored lights on a series of 10’ LED columns. The waves are a metaphor, showing how a single individual can make a difference in the world as their influence ripples through SLCC and beyond.

In nature, as waves interact they amplify each other creating a powerful source of energy. With WaveSCAPE, multiple waves are generated as people pass by in groups. This evokes the idea of the power of collaboration between individuals — faculty educating students, students studying together, or business leaders enriching student lives with new opportunities.

The interactive mosaic also captures the dynamic rhythm of campus life as it ebbs and flows with energy. It becomes vibrant during class changes, then it settles to a calm; keeping the pulse of campus life as it ripples throughout the day.

Some of the campus ‘waves’ spill out into the world and some of the world ‘waves’ flow onto the campus. Therefore, WaveSCAPE will have two sensor locations – one on the south side and the other on the north side. The south side will interact primarily with students coming from other parts of campus and the north side will interact with administrators, faculty and visitors. By having sensors on both sides of the building, WaveSCAPE illustrates how the students impact the community and how the community impacts the students.

Collaborator: Peter Hite

Architect: METALAB