Phoenix Civic Shade Canopies

Location: Phoenix Arizona

Completion: 04/09

Size: 14,290 sf

The creation of a new public civic space in Downtown Phoenix offered an exciting opportunity to give the city a new civic identity, but would require extensive shading to make the site hospitable. The concept for the shade canopies was derived from the undulating topography of the park: understanding the ground as a single, warped surface. The intent was to create a parallel, overhead plane which would unify one's experience of the site. By placing the structural frame above the shading elements, a plane of metal conduit is able to read as a smooth, continuous underbelly, legible from beneath. Photovoltaic panels placed on top of the structure provide further shade, and enhance the layered quality of the shadows cast below, which form an intricate and continuously changing pattern throughout the day.