Client: Edmonton Arts Council

Overview

A streaking beacon resting where the sky meets the earth, Agent Crystalline now perches in front of the Northwest Campus building of the Edmonton Police Center in Edmonton, Canada. Dynamic vectors join in a network of arches made out of ultra-thin aluminum forming a 9m high physical gate at the entrance to the campus. Seemingly waiting for the sound of a starting pistol, Agent Crystalline’s three-point stance strikes one as ready to take off in any direction.
Standing at attention to Edmonton’s Police Service, Agent Crystalline emphasizes a sense of vigilance and acuity through its graphic associations. The work speaks assertively in the language of traffic. In the lexicon of traffic, hues that demand awareness are vital. The vibrant array strikes a balance between safety orange and a sweeter tangerine. Adopting the coloring of the construction offers the structure the ethos of protection and productivity; as well as a bold timeless feeling.

Goals

FROZEN DYNAMICS
Developed on an urban fragment on the outskirts of Edmonton city proper, Agent Crystalline asserts itself as an icon of this landmark campus. The objective is to appeal to the visual speeds of passersby from the nearby roadways. The form captures pulls in the kinetic energy of passerby and embodies visual speed. Authority is distilled in the surging motion captured frozen in time.

Elements of different design eras -ranging from the groovy seventies to the organic minimalism of modern times- are sampled from and merged together in the aesthetic of the iconic gateway. This combination of styles produces an environment that pulls on a variety of contextual references. In discussion and in interaction, viewers may envision a traffic cone, a tangerine Porsche, or the vibrant whirls of seventies illustration.