Fortlandia - Austin Wildflower Center

Fortlandia Playscape - October - February 2025

This Fortlandia installation, created in collaboration with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, invites visitors of all ages into a playful dialogue with nature. Designed and fabricated by myself and a small design team at HKS, the project reflects a hands-on, collaborative approach that bridges design, making, and experience.

Conceived as an interactive playground sculpture, the fort encourages kind, imaginative engagement—climbing, crawling, gathering, and observing while remaining deeply connected to its natural setting.

Color play is woven throughout the installation using layered and translucent elements fabricated in collaboration with Andalusia Design and Polymershapes. As sunlight filters through these components, it casts intricate, fractal-like shadows that shift throughout the day, echoing the patterns and rhythms found in nature.

Structural design and engineering were developed in partnership with Datum Engineering, ensuring the fort balances visual lightness with durability and safety. Together, the interdisciplinary team blurred the boundary between built form and landscape, creating an installation that invites curiosity, movement, and connection—encouraging visitors to interact not only with the sculpture, but with the living environment that surrounds it.