The City University
of New York

250 Bedford Park Blvd. West


Jackie Ferrara
Covered Walkway
1993, concrete
APEX Building
Lehman College Athletic Facility
Dormitory Authority
State of New York

 

 


Jackie Ferrara's 107-foot concrete block pergola, Covered Walkway, is located on Lehman's College Walk, a tree-lined corridor, and extends onto the gym plaza. The walkway provides an entry portal from the street through the gym, and onto the campus proper. The design explores the architectural space of a passageway. As it is entered and traversed, Covered Walkway claims "time" as an element. Its rhythmically-spaced slates create fluttering patterns of light and shadow, and frame views of the campus. The walls are punctuated by intervals of penetrated space which increase in frequency as the wall evolves into columns. Overhead the spacing of the bars increases, allowing views of the trees. It is the experience of moving through the space that is central to the artist's intent "where the viewer becomes part of the piece rather than seeing it as an object." The site design was developed in close collaboration with the architect, Rafael Viñoly.


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