Derived from Indio’s history with date palms, this ¾ mile shade structure on Jackson St. joins the new CV Link to the new park. Local school children drew shadows of palms & we translated those drawings onto perforated shadow-casting panels. An undulating structure reflects the surrounding mountains.
The core of the design is a ‘Universal Connector‘. Only one connector is used for all the pavilions. The same node is used upside-down, turned 180 degrees, flipped, throughout the design.
At the open ends of the node we insert a cast colored glass ball.
Working with high school students in Indio from 3 different schools, we asked them to draw palm trees, palm leaves in black and white to be used on the shade-structure.
We created a website to drop off the images
The drawings were turned into dot-patterns that were laser-cut from the panels.
A half-scale model of a canopy in our studio. You can also see laser-cut cardboard with the dot cutouts.
A typical pavilion. The eccentric shape of the canopy follows the mountains in the distance.
The various types and sizes of the pavilions.
The disposition of the pavilions on Jackson St. which stretch on both sides of the street for 3/4 of a mile.
Construction is due early 2024