For the next few weeks, the Bellevue Park is undergoing construction for a new 23-foot art installation. Located on the Northeast side lies what seems to be TheVeryMany’s newest prototypical architecture. TheVeryMany, which was founded by Marc Fornes, “is a Brooklyn-based art and architecture studio specializing in work that unifies surface, structure and experience into a single system,” the poster hung on the wire fence states. Fornes is a practicing Architect DPLG whose company “represents a body of research that advances new computational outcomes and implements complex techniques in architecture and beyond.” He has put installations from Suzhou, China to Storefront, New York. According to his “Studio” page on his website, Fornes “has also exhibited at the Guggenheim, GGG Art Basel Miami, Art Paris and sold at auction at Phillips De Pury.”
“This permanent artwork is situated between the fields of art and architecture,” the poster reads, “with particular focus in the realm of public art. Fluted columns will rise up to form a canopy with perforated light coming through. The artwork, made up of over 6,000 unique panels with over 60,000 handmade folds and fastened with over 180,000 rivets, reflects Bellevue’s innovative technology sector, love of natural forms, and its robust creative community of thinkers and makers.” According to an article published by the Bellevue Downtown Association, the untitled piece was initially meant to start construction in early 2020; however, due to the pandemic, it is only commencing its installment now.
The piece, funded by the City of Bellevue, is located on the Grand Connection—a 1.5 mile long stretch meant to be a “pedestrian corridor”—and will be a part of the City’s Public Art Collection.
