A kinetic art bouquet of two-story tall flowers in Silver Spring moves in a remarkable marriage of art, electronics and technology.
A new art installation in Silver Spring, Maryland, features mechanical flowers that react to weather conditions is now on display.
(Courtesy Peterson Companies)
Courtesy Peterson Companies
The metal origami display is at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road. It receives data from the National Weather Service to activate protective measures in the event of rain, wind or freezing temperatures.
(Courtesy Peterson Companies)
Courtesy Peterson Companies
The metal origami display is at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road. It receives data from the National Weather Service to activate protective measures in the event of rain, wind or freezing temperatures.
The metal origami display is at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road. It receives data from the National Weather Service to activate protective measures in the event of rain, wind or freezing temperatures.
(Courtesy Peterson Companies)
Courtesy Peterson Companies
The metal origami display is at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road. It receives data from the National Weather Service to activate protective measures in the event of rain, wind or freezing temperatures.
(Courtesy Peterson Companies)
Courtesy Peterson Companies
The metal origami display is at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road. It receives data from the National Weather Service to activate protective measures in the event of rain, wind or freezing temperatures.
(Courtesy Peterson Companies)
A kinetic art bouquet of two-story tall flowers in Silver Spring, Maryland, moves in a remarkable marriage of art, forecasting and electronics.
The metal origami display is at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road. It receives data from the National Weather Service to activate protective measures in the event of rain, wind or freezing temperatures.
“Depending on the weather, the flowers are closed or they’re open,” Joerg Student, one of the project’s artists, told WTOP’s news partners at NBC Washington.
Student is with Foldhaus, an art collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“At night, it illuminates. Each flower illuminates with about three-and-a-half thousand LEDs. And, it changes colors and there’s a bunch of other voice interactions going on,” Student said.
Voice-activated color changes are triggered by someone speaking certain words, such as colors or the names of flowers, according to Source of the Spring, a news outlet focused on Silver Spring and Takoma Park.
The flowers are programed now to be open during daylight hours from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. To show off their moves, the flowers open and close very slowly midday between 12:00 and 12:30 p.m., and around 6 p.m.
Kristi King is a veteran reporter who has been working in the WTOP newsroom since 1990. She covers everything from breaking news to consumer concerns and the latest medical developments.
