Triassic Towers: Trans-Canada Highway-Bowfort Road Public Art

The concept

Triassic Towers features Rundle Rock stones (found only in Alberta) placed mid-way up steel towers where they appear to be floating. These unique ‘specimen stones’ are from the personal collection of geologist Louis Kamenka, along with his wife Brenda, at the Kamenka Quarry near Canmore.

The artwork is located on the south side of the Trans Canada Highway (16 Avenue North), between the west city limits and Sarcee Trail. It is the primary entrance to Calgary from British Columbia and the Rocky Mountains. The public art pieces are designed to capture the essence, personality and history of this location.

About Triassic Towers, Del Geist, one of the artists wrote:

“The sculpture is a celebration of the ancient geological history of the region. It celebrates the Earth’s environment, which affects us all. The stone is elevated, ‘floating’, to signify importance. Therefore, the stone becomes an icon for the environment.

Rundle Rock is rare. Found only in Alberta, and nowhere else in North America. From a geological viewpoint, it holds within each bedding plane the tremendous story of survival which took place on our planet during a period of mass extinction. The individual layers of stone record this history and the events that took place on a prehistoric ocean floor. Water ripple marks and fossil traces are common, including imprints of life species which flourished then, such as Ammonites, Brachiopods, Clams and Fishes.”

Read more about the concept here.

Artists: Supermass Studio, Del Geist, Patricia Leighton
Public Art Budget: ​$500,000​
Year Approved: ​2015
Completed: ​Fall 2017

The artists

Supermass Studio (Taewook Cha) along with professional artists Del Geist and Patricia Leighton were selected to design the project.

undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null