Surya represents a solution for Dallas – an option which didn’t require changing the construction of Museum Tower or the Nasher, due to intense “hot spot” caused by the tower’s very reflective skin. Designed by New York based practices REX and Front, this 400-foot sun-responsive proposal shields Nasher from the Museum Tower. The dynamic, ever-changing structure carefully tracks the daily reflections caused by the Museum and generates unique compositions, therefore presenting an icon, an identifying symbol for the Dallas Arts District.

In order to precisely determine the intervention’s extents, the harmful reflections for the Museum Tower were mapped at each time of day, every day for one year, on a vertical plane which separated Museum from the Nasher. As a result, analyses gave the rough shape of the 343 feet tall and 168 feet wide silhouette which would act as a perfect shield.

In case of a static shield of these dimensions, the commanding views from the expensive apartments would be blocked. Due to that, the dynamic structure consists of variably dimensioned umbrellas that “blossom” precisely and retract when not needed. The umbrellas are hold by a perimeter ring, which is actually transformed into a bicycle-wheel structure, in order to reduce production costs. As it was unfeasible to support the structure from either side of the street, it is supported at its hub by a tripod from a parking lot. Each moment of day, every day of the year, this unique and playful sculpture generates a different composition of “blossoms.”