Lines of Flight Installations at the Minneapolis Public Service Building

By Chris Hudson | June 16, 2022

Lines of Flight, Human (2021), by Futures North. Photo by Gaffer Photography.

SPOTLIGHT

The 2022 ENTER print annual, on sale now, includes a feature on a pairing of public art installations by Futures North in the Minneapolis Public Service Building, the newest addition to Government Plaza in downtown Minneapolis. The two artworks—Lines of Flight, Human and Lines of Flight, Avian—are installed in the building’s glass curtain wall and consist of artful flows of dots, dashes, and lines that represent data on the historical migration patterns of immigrant groups in Minnesota and on the migratory patterns of the common loon, respectively.

Images 1–5: Lines of Flight, Human, indoors and out. The patterns in both installations were created using a technique called data spatialization. Photos by Gaffer Photography.

The curvilinear Human, located on the building’s publicly accessible second floor, continues along the skyway bridge to the Hennepin County Courthouse. Avian, whose design evokes the blur of bird wings, wraps three sides of the 10th-floor staff lounge.

Both installations were recently photographed, and we share the galleries here. The 2022 annual also features the Minneapolis Public Service Building, winner of a 2021 AIA Minnesota Honor Award. The building was designed by MSR Design and Henning Larsen.

Images 1–6: The ceramic frit glass housing Lines of Flight, Avian (2020) creates a “a filter for panoramic views of downtown,” writes Justin R. Wolf in his profile of the installations in the 2022 ENTER print annual. Photos by Gaffer Photography.