Color Changing Building Reacts to the Sun

Colors are changing in the City of Oakland, thanks to the work of Seattle-based installation artist and sculptor, Dan Corson. Shifting Topographies is a project that takes the walls surrounding the BART tunnel station and transforms it into a warping, iridescent display that echoes the colors and patterns of the local landscape. Sculpted from a high-density foam covered in a special paint—similar to the one used in anticounterfeiting—the piece reacts to the sun and viewers' positions during different times of day.

"The inspiration for Shifting Topographies began with the shifting patterns and colors of the rolling Oakland hills (green to gold) and at the macro scale the ripples of the adjacent San Francisco Bay (gray-blue-green)," Corson Studios explains. "Other inspirations came from the flashy paint jobs in the car culture of this community and the signature Blue BART tunnel station for which the art marked the entrance."

Commissioned by the City of Oakland for the Illuminate Oakland campaign, Corson created Shifting Topographies as part of a community effort to breathe new life into underutilized spaces through light and art. Check out Shifting Topographies below, and visit Dan Corson's website for more from the artist.

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