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Architects: Katie Paterson, Zeller & Moye
- Area: 209 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Iwan Baan, Hunter Kerhart
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Manufacturers: East Bay Batch and Color, John Lewis Glass, Inc., VCG Global
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Lead Architects: Ingrid Moye, Christoph Zeller
Text description provided by the architects. Zeller & Moye announces Mirage, a public sculpture created by the architecture firm Zeller & Moye and artist Katie Paterson. Located in the olive grove adjacent to the Apple Park Visitor Center, Mirage (2023) features over four hundred glass columns intertwined among the olive trees. The pillars, made of pure molten glass, are crafted with sand collected from deserts around the world. Mirage has been cast into individual glass cylinders, each measuring 1.80 meters in height, by expert glassblowers with the assistance of specialized material scientists.
Unique glass recipes were formulated for each desert, resulting in pillars with subtle variations in color and texture. Innovative methods were invented to work with glass on this scale, in combination with techniques from the origins of glassmaking.
Collectively, the columns combine the deserts of the world transformed into a liquid material, flowing like a wind-sculpted dune. Mirage is a global work of art. In a spirit of cooperation, the sand was sustainably collected in collaboration with UNESCO, geologists, and communities from all desert regions of the world. The artwork pays tribute to each land it comes from and the people who cultivate, preserve, and sustain it.
Mirage has a strong material presence that connects with the elements and reflects the environment. In the daylight, the sculpture varies in iridescence, and at sunset, it gently glows. The experience of observing the passage of light becomes a form of meditation: time stands still. Visitors can interact with the artwork, walking alongside and through it, where the glass subtly merges with the landscape like a desert mirage.
Mirage creates a moment of pause, inviting all visitors to slow down and tune into the immensity and preciousness of our planet. There is nothing like it anywhere else on Earth.
"Sand, so omnipresent on Earth, is a marker of time. Mirage creates the experience of being enveloped by the sublime spaces of the Earth. Each piece of glass is a portal to landscapes from another world. The artwork is dreamlike: the colors are contemplative, and the glass has a natural glow that creates infinite reflections. We hope that Mirage creates a sensory experience that ignites imagination and connects visitors with the vastness of the Earth and its precious natural spaces." - Katie Paterson
"Visitors experience Mirage by walking along columns that reveal stories of the world's deserts. The sculpture unfolds piece by piece, gradually changing in color, surface texture, and material consistency." - Christoph Zeller
"The structure is designed in harmony with nature. The glass bars are arranged as a series of curved walls that snake through the olive grid, defining a semiclosed space similar to an interior garden. The spatial composition activates the existing landscape of the park, creating an unexpected social and contemplative gathering place for visitors and staff to relax, lay on the grass, have a picnic, or play." - Ingrid Moye
