A unique installation, Conversation Plinth is a collaboration between IKD, a Boston-based architectural design firm, Bensonwood, SMARTLAM, the first CLT manufacturer in the US, and Clemson University’s Wood Utilization and Design Institute. One of five Exhibit Columbus winners of the J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller prize, Conversation Plinth is designed to generate conversation around the use of hardwood cross laminated timbers in US construction. While softwood CLTs have been used in North America in the development of mid-to-high-rise buildings, the hardwood variety has only been available in Europe. Large shifting timber discs compose a series of plinths that rise upward towards the west and encourage dynamic circulation around the sculpture, allowing the plaza to be experienced in new ways — even by night, thanks to dramatic lighting.
Design
Build
Bensonwood
Art Installation
Large shifting timber discs compose a series of plinths that rise upward towards the west and encourage dynamic circulation around the sculpture
The design for Conversation Plinth takes inspiration from the conversation pit in the Miller House and the plinths that elevate the landmarks immediately surrounding the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library.
