Paul Housberg's architectural panel (one of four) catches and sorts light waves into bands of natural shades of color when illuminated by the light coming through a glass wall of the Governor Philip W. Noel Judicial Complex in Warwick, Rhode Island. This one references summer colors.
UPDATED 09/28/2010
Rhode-Island native Paul Housberg brought his unique sensitivity to the natural New England wetlands landscape as it changes with the seasons in recent site-specific architecturally integrated glass panels unveiled on four floors of the renamed Governor Philip W. Noel Judicial Complex (until June 2010, known as the Kent County Courthouse) in Warwick, Rhode Island. Each panel references the wetlands colors of a particular season. Housberg, who has a long list of architectural projects for hospitals, synagogues, corporate offices, and hotels, has also been receiving public commissions for transit stations (Kennedy Plaza Intermodal Transit Center, Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, 2002), university libraries (University of Utah Marriott Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008), and courthouses (William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse Annex, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1999), including his newest project in Rhode Island, which was completed in May 2010.
Paul Housberg
A graduate of R.I.S.D. (MFA, 1979; BFA, 1975) Housberg also studied with the legendary British contemporary stained glass artist Patrick Reyntiens. Houseberg’s kilnformed panels betray a painterly sensibility, and for the Noel Complex, they employ bands of color in a chromatic range that references the natural wetlands. This close correspondence between the work in glass and the architecture in which it is situated is a signature feature of Housberg’s work.
“My approach is to use glass in a manner that expresses its materiality and refractive properties,” Housberg writes in a release about the new project. “If the work offers a momentary experience of repose or transcendence in a chaotic environment, then I feel I’ve been successful.“
The glass panels for the Governor Philip W. Noel Judicial Complex were commissioned by the Rhode Island Judiciary through the Rhode Island Art for Public Facilities Program of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, 2010.
Editor’s Note: The original posting of this item did not include the information that the pictured panel was one of four, referencing the colors of the summer season. It has been updated to reflect this new information.