Zaagaasige
Zaagaasige by SOFTlab is a forthcoming public artwork, soon to be on display in the City of Mississauga.
SOFTlab, Forthcoming (2025)
Future Park at M City, 505 Webb Drive
About the artwork
The artwork is inspired by the Ojibwe word “Zaagaasige”, meaning the sun shines between and out of. It features a canopy made of wood that lets sunlight through an organic, cell-like structure.
The canopy resembles lily pads and forms a vaulted gateway with three pillars for the park. The structure uses natural patterns, creating a solid appearance from afar while being visually porous up close. Each cell varies in shape and is clad with mirrored panels in different colors, offering kaleidoscopic views of the sky and surroundings.
When sunlight passes through the canopy, it takes on the colours of each cell. This creates a magical atmosphere of light and colour for visitors. As the sun moves across the sky, patterns of coloured light shift and change in unexpected ways, “painting” pedestrians and the ground with colour.
About the artist
SOFTlab is a design studio based in New York City founded by Michael Szivos. The studio was created by Michael shortly after receiving a graduate degree in architecture from Columbia University. SOFTlab combines a research-based design practice with an interest in how technology, craft, and materials come together in ways that explore the boundaries between art, architecture, other disciplines, and the public.
The studio’s work is driven by the idiosyncratic nature of the world and the expectations people have of how they engage with that world and each other. Rather than rationalize or give order to that world, they are inspired by its peculiar messiness and seek to reframe it through our work. While technology can be seen as simply an alibi for innovation or progress, SOFTlab sees technology as an opportunity to enable new perspectives of where we might find unexpected possibilities, playfulness, and beauty in an increasingly complex world. Ultimately, SOFTlab strives for their projects to elicit a sense of wonder and a rethinking of our relationship to each other and the world around us.
Along with running the studio, Michael is also a senior critic at Yale University’s School of Architecture where he teaches graduate design studios.
About the artwork selection
Through an open call to artists, the City’s public art program invited professional artists and artist teams to submit credentials and expressions of interest. Submissions were evaluated by an independent art selection committee and four applicants were shortlisted and invited to develop proposals.
The City of Mississauga heard from local residents and visitors who provided their input and feedback on these four public art proposals. Zaagaasige received the highest proportion of positive comments, more than three times the amount of the second-place proposal. The art selection committee selected Zaagaasige based on the selection criteria and survey feedback.
The art selection committee was comprised of individuals with expertise in design, architecture, curatorial practice, contemporary art, Indigenous Knowledge, lived experience, and knowledge of the local neighbourhood.