Why wait to get to the beach when travelers can experience flowing water at the airport? There’s a new waterfall public-art display being planned for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The new artwork, titled “Cascade,” will be set at the airport’s departures level of Terminal 2, past the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, said Christina Roldan, the public art project manager for the Broward County Aviation Department. It will feature a “luminous, ever-changing liquid display inviting family photos and selfies while also providing a moment to sit and relax in quiet contemplation and wonder.”
“I was looking for something we hadn’t done before that was interactive, changeable, contemporary, and that entertained and calmed passengers,” she said.
The Broward County Commission recently unanimously approved spending $330,000 for the public art, with another $20,000 in contingency. Artists Lachlan Turczan and Kevin Izard were selected from 69 artists that responded to a national Call to Artists.
The intent was “artwork that offered a calming and soothing effect on passengers, created a fun, attractive focal point that enhanced the overall ambiance of the terminal, and created a meeting or gathering point,” Roldan said. “This is the first water feature at FLL, and the proposal presented by these artists fully addressed the project’s goal and captured the essence of the local area.”
Turczan, of Los Angeles, said custom-engineered pumps and nozzles will keep the water flowing. “It will be a cascade of water flowing down, like a waterfall,” he said. “Our work is a mixture of engineering and artistry. It will be a pleasant experience that you don’t even question how it’s made.”
But you can’t touch the water, because it will be encased.
He said a light behind it will “celebrate beautiful sunrises and sunsets you get in Florida, you can see some of the most remarkable sunrises and sunsets in Fort Lauderdale,” he said. The work will “bottle it for people to experience.”
Turczan said he works primarily with water and light and he is credited with working with Google to create ‘Shaped by Water,’ an exhibition for the Milan Design Week that opened in April 2023.
He said he expects the “chevrons of falling water” project to be created in California, and shipped in pieces to Florida by freight, and get assembled there. The plans are still being designed, but it could be 12 feet high. Work is expected to start within months, and anticipated to be completed by early 2027.
The idea, he said, is to bring people “closer to nature, presenting nature in novel ways you’ve never experienced before.”
The water feature will flow 24 hours a day.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at [email protected]. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash
