Plaza's Light Towers Provide More Than Illumination
The design, the character, the flavor of City Plaza was the focus of a deliberate yet impassioned collaborative effort. The verdict of this five-year collaboration demanded that the plaza eloquently enunciate that Raleigh 2009 is creative, smart, high tech and entrepreneurial. City Plaza, it deemed, must be the natural epicenter of a thriving and vibrant Downtown.
The collaborators were the City of Raleigh, the City’s design consultant, Kimley-Horn and Associates, and the Project of Public Spaces, a New York-based firm specializing in the analysis and design of public gathering spaces. The design was developed with considerable input from the public and from City boards and commissions at design workshops in the fall of 2006. Design elements of the plaza include flexible seating, an interactive water fountain, planters and trees.
The light towers are City Plaza’s signature of this special block. The towers are bold -- four 55-foot light towers that integrate LED lights and stainless steel oak leaves. Bollards in the plaza also incorporate the oak-leaf design and lights.
While both elements are “art” they also serve a practical purpose. The towers are very adaptable for projection equipment that can provide light for myriad events. The bollards are positioned to control the vehicular traffic that will return to the 500 block of Fayetteville Street Oct. 24 as part of Raleigh Wide Open 4 and the opening of the plaza.
Jim Gallucci was chosen to be the City Plaza project artist. Mr. Gallucci is a very well known sculptor working out of Greensboro. While he has taught art at several Southern colleges, including the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Alabama at Huntsville, he now works full time designing and creating sculptures for public, corporate and residential spaces across the United States.
Mr. Gallucci said that the project evolved from modest light panels when he first envisioned the project, and that this evolution continued through the months he fabricated this centerpiece for the city.
Mr. Gallucci’s contract with the City for the design, fabrication and installation of the towers and bollards is for $2,289,356. The lighting for the towers was designed by Colorlume, Inc. of Carrboro.
“I am very honored and excited to be involved in such an important project,” Mr. Gallucci said.
Why You Know Jim Gallucci
Mr. Gallucci’s work is familiar to thousands of Triangle residents since we are the home to two of his famous gates. He designed the 62-foot-long functional gate for Marbles Museum. It is called the “Whisper Gate.” Sound tubes wind throughout the structure creating a lyrical interpretation of the world while allowing children of all ages to whisper messages through the gate.
The City of Raleigh is the proud owner of “Immigrants Gate II” which was first shown at Pier Walk in Chicago in 1997 and subsequently exhibited at various parks in the Midwest. It first came to Raleigh as part of its 2003-04 Downtown Raleigh Sculpture Expo. Later it was purchased by the City. Until recently it has been on exhibit across from the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts on South Street. Last year the gate was moved to Millbrook Exchange Park.
Prepared by:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
222 West Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-996-3100
The light towers are City Plaza’s signature of this special block. The towers are bold -- four 55-foot light towers that integrate LED lights and stainless steel oak leaves. Bollards in the plaza also incorporate the oak-leaf design and lights.
