Terra Inventum
This was a collaboration with artist, Rebecca Thompson, and Master Stone Mason and Carver, JB Barnhouse, for a new public plaza for the University of Iowa, College of Pharmacy. Our proposal combines elements of the natural world –terra– with elements from the research world’s spirit of invention and discovery –inventum.
The local limestone walls, dense groves of trees, medicinal herb beds, and stones from an adjacent ravine frame a space full of hidden discoveries: rune-like table etchings, secret dioramas embedded in stone walls, and a DNA light display that responds to passersby. Taking the form of two chromosome strands carving through the site, Terra Inventum creates a direct physical and visual connection between the College and the Quad Ravine; science meets nature.
