{"id":24566,"date":"2026-07-24T09:53:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/2026\/07\/24\/installation-bridges-playful-eye-catching-art-with-agricultural-sciences\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T12:21:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:21:58","slug":"installation-bridges-playful-eye-catching-art-with-agricultural-sciences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/2026\/07\/24\/installation-bridges-playful-eye-catching-art-with-agricultural-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"Installation Bridges Playful, Eye-Catching Art With Agricultural Sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve heard of the butterfly effect, the idea that a seemingly small event like a butterfly flapping its wings can have much larger, unexpected consequences thousands of miles away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NC State University designers hope the installation they call The Butterfly Effect have its own rippling influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name holds double meaning, reflecting the designers\u2019 intention both to attract literal pollinators and to spark curiosity about the research taking place in the five-story, glass-and-steel Plant Sciences Building just steps away. Also, when viewed from certain vantage points, the trellis looks like butterfly wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The installation’s name is intended as a double or triple entendre, says Audrey Barnes, reflecting its visual resemblance to butterfly wings as well as garden\u2019s ability to attract pollinators and spark ripples of curiosity over what occurs in the nearby Plant Sciences Building. Photo by Becky Kirkland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The goal, they say, is to transform how the public perceives and engages with the surrounding landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Butterfly Effect grew from a collaboration of College of Design<\/a> faculty members and students, N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative <\/a>staff members and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences<\/a>\u2019 Centennial Campus Phytotron<\/a> crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The installation features a functional trellis forming a tunnel that\u2019s large enough for small children to play among flowers, vegetables and herbs planted in a test bed beneath it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trellis consists of seven bright white panels made of recyclable plastic. The panels themselves \u2014 light, inexpensive and portable \u2014 are filled with holes of various sizes and shapes, evoking the cellular structure of corn, one of the world\u2019s most important crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uniting Disciplines for a Common Cause<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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