General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, Washington, DC

Window Wall at Main Entrance Portico, Quentin N. Burdick United States Courthouse, Fargo, ND
110'-0" w by 28'-8" h overall

Insulated Glass Units; Hand-pressed, Fire-Polished Lenses; Optically Clear UV Adhesive.

The Leonard Parker Associates, Minneapolis, MN and Mutchler Bartram Architects, Fargo, ND, Architects

This installation of over 6,000 lenses and 1,250 dichroic glass squares on a 3,000-plus square foot window wall functions at many levels. From the outside the overall composition reflects the vaulted roof of the courtroom above and seems to radiate around the seal of the court over the main doorway. The reflective quality of the dichroic squares causes them to sparkle as pedestrians and traffic move past. Within the courthouse, the installation is experienced as two separate horizontal sequences by those walking by on the first and second levels. The dichroic squares shift in their apparent color as court workers and jury members walk and mill past the windows. The airy glimmer of images in every lens does not detract from the spatial flow at the window wall nor with the view to the urban landscape beyond.

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