ATTRACTOR, PASEO GULCH TOWER ONE PARKING SCREENS

Nashville, TN

_Faulders Studio was awarded the public art commission to design the podium screen for the newly constructed 16-story Paseo South Gulch Prima Tower. Commissioned by an affiliate of SomeraRoad Inc. and represented by NINE dot ARTS, the permanent facade recently finished construction in 2024.

Located in Nashville’s Gulch District, a topographic depression that spills southward to the city’s waterfront along the Cumberland River, the concept is loosely inspired by contours of its landform setting. Prima Tower, one of the signature additions to this rapidly growing neighborhood, is situated directly at the apex of this gulch.

Attractor

appears on the skyline like a welcoming soft spot amidst this multi-tower development, and is a new, large-scale addition to this up-and-coming creative district. Sensorially engaging the public at multiple scales, its singular pattern is commensurate with the sheer size of the adjacent tower buildings - both existing and forthcoming - yet retains an incremental finesse that is mesmerizing from sidewalk views. Made up of thousands of porous ‘tiny windows’ - the finest being a mere ¼” in width - subtle intricacies emerge when experienced up close. From oblique angles along Fogg Street and Paseo walkways, the concentric curves visually stretch and compress in response to one’s own movement.

The solid-void composition offers an amorphous, painterly effect as an intended contrast with the crisp geometries of the surrounding new buildings. Perforations are arranged along nested rings using a growth algorithm of increasing and decreasing opening sizes: this creates an overall 3-dimensional effect upon this otherwise flat surface. Thin metal bridges gather into emergent branch-like geometries within the overall field.

Fabricated with laser-cut 3/16” thick sheet aluminum, the panels are painted white to contrast with the darker porous openings. From inside this thin filigree comes to life with natural light, ever-changing shadows, and abundant views outward. Using a slight pattern variation between both sides, the screens are located on two faces of the residential and mixed-use tower and shield four levels of podium parking.

Facade Artist/Architect:

Faulders Studio

Building Executive Architect:

ESa/Earl Swensson Assoc.

Façade Engineering:

Wallace Design Collective

Façade Production:

John W. McDougall Co.

General Building Contractor:

Clark Construction Group

Developer:

An affiliate of SomeraRoad Inc.

Art Representative:

NINE dot ARTS

Façade Lighting Design:

Bliss Fasman Inc.

Faulders Studio team:

Thom Faulders, Yue Liu, Baowen Jiang, Parham Nourikoupaei

_2024 Construction completed