Home Projects Design Installation Prairie Cord: 3D Printed Ceramic Modular Blocks Weave an Arch Designed by Brian Peters
InstallationDesignProjects

Prairie Cord: 3D Printed Ceramic Modular Blocks Weave an Arch Designed by Brian Peters

Share
Prairie Cord
Share
Prairie Cord

A latticed structure revels in a mirror-like pool, with admonishing beauty! A simple hemispherical curve weaves the Prairie Cord designed by Brian Peters. The designers showcased the project commissioned by Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. The artist interestingly envisaged a site-specific element that plays with light, shadow, and reflection during the day and night.

Learn more about parametric and computational design from pioneers at the CD NEXT conference series:

Prairie Cord

Fashioning an arc, glamourous and intricate, inhibited upon an existing shallow pool and reflecting its other half, forms a full cylinder. The structural fragments compose 3D printed ceramic blocks inset into a wooded frame. The infill pattern intricately exudes inspiration from the native prairie cord grasses, jostling the idea of filtering light to stream in and out of the installation, like dancing speckles.

Prairie Cord

Brian Peters sculpted the design as an exploration of 3D printed parts-to-whole public art. His conceptual imagination takes advantage of the site’s bucolic context and tranquil waters. The luminosity that parades at night draws in a warm ambiance, elating the artistic drama he professed.  

Prairie Cord floats lightly atop the garden’s pool, stabilized upon a foundation of concrete blocks and it rests fairly hovering on the water’s surface. An ensemble of 80 individual blocks comprises the installation, with an array of sixteen unique block designs, each tapering based on its location on the arch.

Prairie Cord: 3D Printed Ceramic Modular Blocks Weave an Arch Designed by Brian Peters

Brian Peters designed and fabricated the ceramic blocks in his Pittsburgh studio using a customized process. Later, each block was hand refined, glazed, and fired in a kiln to achieve the material’s robustness and life.

Prairie Cord

As a gentle air breezes past, the Prairie Cord imparts an ethereal enigma that captures every visitor’s gaze, as it soothingly glistens in the shallow pool.

Prairie Cord: 3D Printed Ceramic Modular Blocks Weave an Arch Designed by Brian Peters

Project Details:
Client: Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Project Title: Prairie Cord
Artist/Designer: Brian Peters
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Materials: 3d Printed Stoneware Blocks, Frame, Led Lights
Photography: Brian Peters
Design Details:
Overall Dimensions: 10’-0” L X 4’-0” H X 6’-0” D
Individual Block Dimensions: 12” L X 8” H X 4” D

Subscribe to our newsletter

Share
Written by
Jayakrishnan Ranjit

Jayakrishnan Ranjit is an architect from India with a passion for writing and storytelling. He focuses on scripting rich imagined stories on architecture, design and human nature. He researches on various facets of design and loves to explore the diverse nature of reality and fiction. He has written and published over more than 100 articles on architecture and design for various magazines around the globe.

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Related Articles
SpY’s Golden Monoliths Recast Shipping Containers as Urban Totems
Installation

SpY’s Golden Monoliths Recast Shipping Containers as Urban Totems

SpY’s Golden Monoliths transforms the urban landscape of the French city of...

Heilongtan Dome Music Hall: A Contemporary Banyan Tree by Studio Dali Architects
Installation

Heilongtan Dome Music Hall: A Contemporary Banyan Tree by Studio Dali Architects

Nestled at the entrance of an agricultural community in Heilongtan, Renshou County,...

MVRDV and Zecc Architecten Transform Heerlen Church into Public Swimming Pool
Projects

MVRDV and Zecc Architecten Transform Heerlen Church into Public Swimming Pool

MVRDV and Zecc Architecten have won the competition to transform the St....

Aevum by Zaha Hadid Architects and Vertico Explores the Future of Concrete Printing at Milan Design Week
Installation

Aevum by Zaha Hadid Architects and Vertico Explores the Future of Concrete Printing at Milan Design Week

As part of the INTERNI “Cre-Action” exhibition at the Università degli Studi...

Subscribe to all newsletters

Join our community to receive the latest insights and updates!

© 2025 ParametricArchitecture. All Rights Reserved. By utilizing this website, you are consenting to our User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Statement. In compliance with the privacy laws of Turkey and the United States, we recognize and respect your rights. Please be aware that we may receive commissions for products bought through our affiliate links. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or transmission of any material from this site is strictly forbidden without prior written permission from ParametricArchitecture.

ad blocker mark

AdBlocker Detected!

Help Us Keep Our Content Free

Your support helps us continue delivering high-quality resources at no cost to you.

We’ve detected that you are using an AdBlocker. We completely understand the need for a clean browsing experience, but ads help us keep this platform running and continue providing you with high-quality content at no cost.

If you enjoy our content, please consider disabling your AdBlocker or adding our site to your whitelist. Your support allows us to create more valuable articles, tutorials, and resources for you.

Thank you for being a part of our community!