Creative Redevelopment Re-use
Creative re-use of programmatic and construction elements has always been a goal at Seattle Center, where reusing, reducing and recycling are daily practices. Three recent examples show that we’re still striving to cut down on waste and retain what has meaning, history and beauty.
As Seattle Center prepared for the transformation of Climate Pledge Arena, it removed and repurposed numerous items from the construction site including several large mature trees and shrubs that surrounded and landscaped the building. Some were transplanted in other parts of the grounds. Others found new homes at Woodland Park Zoo and Kubota Gardens. The transplants included several rhododendron shrubs, an Alaskan weeping cedar, one mountain hemlock, a Golden Hinoski, a ten-year old gingko, two paperback maples and more.
Earlier this month, as we prepared the Fountain of Creation, AKA, DuPen Fountain site for restoration and redesign, we repurposed the old granite boulders that surrounded Everett DuPen’s bronze sculptural pieces. Many of the boulders were moved to the new Seattle Center Skate Plaza for re-use in the landscape there, and others were picked up by Woodland Park Zoo for use in their animal enclosures.
Functional art formerly in Seattle Center Skatepark was just installed in the new Skate Plaza, located at Thomas St and Taylor Ave. By artist Perri Lynch Howard, VMG: Velocity Made Good consists of several laminated glass panels and skateable glass ramp featuring imagery derived from high resolution scans of worn skateboard decks. Hardscape design influenced by grip tape and laminated wood used in skateboard deck construction.
#seattlecenter #didyouknow #recycling
About Seattle Center:
Connect to the extraordinary at Seattle Center, an active civic, arts and family gathering place in the core of our region. More than 30 cultural, educational, sports and entertainment organizations that reside on the grounds, together with a broad range of public and community programs, create thousands of events on the 74-acre campus and attract over 12 million visitors each year. At Seattle Center, part of Uptown Arts & Cultural District, our purpose is to create exceptional events, experiences and environments that delight and inspire the human spirit to build stronger communities. Activities at the Center generate $1.864 billion in business activity and $631 million in labor income.
