As the art portal leading people from the nearby San Antonio Riverwalk towards Mission San Jose via Mission County Park, CoCojibos acts as both a shade structure and transition from natural beauty to historic themes. The title of the installation is a combination of the prefix “co” and the Spanish word for shelter — “cobijo.” It was inspired by wild cacti which have become a treasured feature within Mission San Jose, a nearby historic mission. These cacti make up the roof above one of the native dwellings in a seemingly impossible balancing act. Despite renovations over four decades, these cacti have not only survived but flourished. Cacti will be planted above and below the structure to add dimension to the massive curving cactus stems, complete with lace-like inserts similar to the texture of dried cactus.
Successful completion of this project required the consideration of many unique details. The first challenge encountered was the complex geometry that the artist had designed was not provided by traditional drawings. Working with an artists model, conceptual sketches and only 3 design drawing provided by the engineer of record, all design and connections required thorough coordination to ensure that all parties could collaborate on the final product.
Once the artists model was converted to a Tekla model, joints and connections were simplified as much as possible to simplify transitions while ensuring that joints maintained structural integrity. Members "twist" as they cross over the top of the arches and tie together in compound angles requiring very unique transition connections. Conveying the geometry into the shop drawings was challenging and a system of punch marks was added to the model which were conveyed into the CNC data and used as alignment points during fabrication. Due to the cutting of the patterns in the lattice plates, it was important that the orientation of the plates and the artists' patterns were maintained. This was also handled with CNC punch marks that were conveyed into the CNC data.
This project would not have been possible without the full cooperation and collaboration between the artists, the Engineer of record, the steel fabricator, the material suppliers and the detailers.
