Vector Space

Photo by DSC Staff

Artists Carolyn Braaksma and Brad Kaspari, designed Vector Space, a terrazzo public art installation, as a holistic tribute to the multiple engineering disciplines that are part of the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering at Rowan University. With this in mind, the floor was created to express the different disciplines of engineering: chemical, structural, civil, mechanical, electrical, biological. As visitors pass through the main entrance, they are immediately made aware that this building has a specific function in the educational experience. The public art work’s overall theme is the union of all engineering disciplines in basic concepts and the importance of engineering to daily life.

As visitors walk in the front door, they will notice the silver letters that spiral throughout the main floor, letters of the shorthand names of elements in the periodic table, which references chemical engineering. Arrows that emulate a vector field reference many different engineering fields through their connection to force diagrams. These arrows also direct and suggest the movement of people through the commons areas.

The design of the floor also re-imagines the Rowan University Engineering gonfalon. The “Fuller” Checkerboard references structural and civil engineering, re-drawn from Buckminster Fuller’s 1951 patent application. The alternating colors refer to the checkerboard pattern associated with the Rowan School Seal. The sun on the Rowan banner becomes a gear at the center of the floor as well as the center of the periodic table near the hydrogen element. The owl is expressed by feathers that become vector arrows.

The colors of Vector Space are intended to coordinate with the chosen color palette for the surrounding interior finishes.