Untitled (Municipal Center)

Medium: bronze sculpture with water feature

Installed: October, 2011

Ann Arbor’s sculpture demonstrates the flow of water through local rainfall cycles, using rainwater that is captured and stored in tanks under the structure. When the storage tanks are low during dry weather, the pumps stop circulating water over the surface of the sculpture until the next rainfall. The natural water cycle impacts the use of water for drinking and sanitation within our community. The work encourages water conservation through the use, reuse and filtration of rainwater. The sculpture demonstrates the proper detention of rainwater, which reduces the need for additional City stormwater capacity and reduces the burden on City sewers. The water pumps do not operate late at night or during the winter months, however the energy-efficient LED lights continue their cascading display year-round.

Dreiseitl worked with Michigan artisans to cast and install the bronze sculpture and the concrete simulated riverbed base. Local businesses also developed the water pumping and lighting systems and adjacent rain gardens. The fabrication of the blue glass spheres as integrated with the lights and water flow were produced in cooperation with the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. The technology for routing the mold used to cast the sculpture was engineered with graduate students during Drieseitl’s fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.