Location: Southeast Treatment Plant, San Francisco, CA
ARTIST: Norie Sato
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is investing over $2B to upgrade and modernize the aging Southeast Treatment Plant to reduce odors, be better prepared for earthquakes and sea level rise, and ensure operational efficiency. We commissioned artist Norie Sato to create a monumental artwork the length of an entire building, 350 feet long and 35 feet high.
Images and Renderings: Norie Sato
San Francisco Arts Commission Project Manager: Mary Chou
Project Status: Artwork fabrication complete, install estimated 2024.
Evocative of the coriolis force, the artwork references the complex processes of water treatment and works to make visible the often invisible infrastructure of water, power and sewer. Frequently overlooked, wastewater treatment makes the density of life in cities possible, and highlights the processes that occur inside the facility as well as critical aspects of environmental stewardship.
Full Scale Mock-up
Fabrication by Zahner
When completed, the city’s largest wastewater treatment plant will be transformed into a resource recovery facility that smells better, looks better and works better. The facility is a recent recipient of the Envision® Gold award for sustainable infrastructure, designated by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.
The SFPUC’s many talented partners on this project include: Zahner, Sundt-Walsh, Carollo, incommon, AECOM, San Francisco Department of Public Works, San Francisco Arts Commission, and Norie Sato