IceWall
By Yushiro Okamoto and Kian Yam, graduate students in the Department of Architecture
January–February, 2011
Killian Court
MIT150 celebrates past innovation and achievement, while acting as a catalyst for the next generation. In this spirit, IceWall plants a new future, even as its own seemingly fades away during the Festival of Art, Science & Technology. The installation consists of blocks of ice stacked on each other, creating one continuous surface facing the Charles River. Each block will have flower seeds frozen inside, visible during the Festival. The wall will be lighted at night, creating a new face for MIT from across the river in Boston. As FAST concludes and IceWall melts away, the seeds are left behind in the ground. As the seeds germinate and bloom, the installation will continue to celebrate the sesquicentennial in the spring.
Funded in part by a grant from the Council for the Arts at MIT.