Buhl Community Park at Allegheny Square is adjacent to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The park and fog art were constructed in a $6.5 million collaborative effort between the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Burt Hill, Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture, Ned Kahn, and Koolfog.
Comprised of unique waterways, meadows, gathering areas, bike racks, benches, and a rain garden to manage storm-water runoff, the park is also home to “Cloud Arbor,” a centerpiece water feature, realizing the innovation and imagination of artist Ned Kahn. Ned Kahn Studios is located in Northern California and the artist is known for integrating weather science, wind currents and natural elements into his works to give movement and visual texture to his works. “Cloud Arbor” is a piece of public art that brings these components to a park setting with an urban backdrop. To create “Cloud Arbor”, 64 stainless steel poles rise 32ft above the ground housing approximately over 500 fog nozzles. Set at an angle to create a natural air current and managed by automated controls, it cycles the creation of an immersive fog effect with spherical clouds.
Koolfog worked with a talented team of landscape architects, designers, and engineers to develop a fog system that transforms its shape with differing weather conditions. According to Koolfog President Bryan Roe, “Our intent was to carefully and respectfully find a solution that honored Ned Kahn’s vision in creating a natural visual effect that has a porous environment and merges with the atmosphere to enhance the surrounding architecture.” The high-pressure fog system uses a Koolfog Atacama pump to emit fog at 1200 psi. The piece is interactive experience in that people can take in the visual majesty as well as a walk among the “clouds”. Buhl Community Park opened June 23, 2012.
