Sheldon Plaza is a vital new public space for The Sheldon Arts Foundation and a critical link in the Grand Center Artwalk. The Plaza connects the Public Media Commons and Saint Louis University Museum of Art to the Pulitzer Foundation, Contemporary Art Museum and The Sheldon. Through a series of terraced spaces for the outdoor display of art, staging of performances and educational gatherings, the Plaza brings the gallery and concert hall out and into the city, furthering Sheldon’s mission of public engagement and providing space for collaboration with nearby arts institutions. Setting the stage is a dramatic new vertical garden, a rich variety of climbing plants that ascend to create an irregular pattern in contradistinction to the building beyond thanks to a novel, digitally fabricated structural array (believed to be the world’s largest tensioned plate structure). Modulation in the array promotes the propagation of vines, varying density while maintaining a unified visual presence that draws the interest of visitors, provides an inviting atmosphere and lends a distinctive new element The Sheldon campus.
Created with Benjamin Gilmartin, Powers Bowersox Associates, DLANDstudio, M. Ludvik Engineering and Randy Burkett Lighting.