‘Round and ‘Round
Norie Sato
Atlantic/Central Base
A pair of artworks evoke the constant movement within the county’s bus network.
The Atlantic/Central Base is an employee services center for King County’s Department of Metro Transit. It serves two bus bases—Atlantic and Central—where some 1,200 drivers and other staff pick up route assignments, take breaks between shifts, socialize, train, and stock up on supplies.
Nori Sato’s 'Round and 'Round—which takes its name from the children’s song “The Wheels on the Bus”—consists of two parts: a 7,500 square foot terrazzo floor with a pair of intertwining labyrinths at the core of the building and an integrated sculpture on the 6th Avenue South façade. Both components use circular motifs to speak to the interconnected movement and rhythm of the bus system and its riders.Circles are used literally and metaphorically within the activities of the bases—from tires to steering wheels, bus routes, daily cycles. –Norie Sato
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The same colors, forms, and materials extend to the exterior sculpture on the building’s green screen, where one side of the main entry features aluminum half spheres and blue LEDs, and the other side uses brass half spheres and green LEDs. In total, more than 110 sculptural elements are woven into the screen in pathways that imply the coming and going of buses to and from destinations all around the county.
Based in Seattle, multidisciplinary artist Norie Sato has created site-specific and integrated artwork for public places around the Unites States and beyond. She frequently collaborates with architects, city planners, and other creatives. Her decades-long career includes contributions to policy development and best practices for the field of public art.
About the Location
Atlantic/Central Base
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