Orbital / FUTUREFORMS

Architects: FUTUREFORMS
Year: 2021
Photography: Matthew Millman
Lead Architects: Jason Kelly Johnson, Nataly Gattegno
Design & Fabrication: FUTUREFORMS
Structural Engineering: Arup
Landscape Design: Surface Design
Materials: Marine-grade stainless steel, aluminum
City: San Francisco
Country: United States

Orbital is a permanent public art sculpture conceived and fabricated by San Francisco Bay Area studio FUTUREFORMS for the entrance plaza of the former Uber Headquarters, now occupied by OpenAI, in Mission Bay. Rising 34 feet tall, the work establishes a strong civic presence while simultaneously offering a sheltered interior environment for visitors. The sculpture is defined by a dynamic, coiled geometry supported by three slender legs that emerge directly from the plaza surface, blurring distinctions between structure, skin, and ground. Its exterior is clad in highly reflective, tessellated marine-grade stainless steel panels, creating a landmark that shifts with changing light conditions and surrounding movement. Beneath the form, visitors encounter a contrasting interior lined with layered aluminum shingles in gradated hues, forming an immersive and tactile spatial experience. Developed through advanced computational design and digital fabrication processes, Orbital exemplifies FUTUREFORMS’ approach to public art as an intersection of geometry, material innovation, and urban engagement, prioritizing durability, longevity, and experiential richness within the public realm.

Rather than functioning solely as an object to be observed, Orbital positions itself as an inhabitable presence within the city, one that recalibrates the relationship between public art and everyday movement through the urban landscape. Its placement within Mission Bay’s corporate campus setting allows the sculpture to operate as both threshold and destination, marking entry while encouraging pause and occupation beneath its form. The work’s scale is assertive, yet its posture remains open, inviting pedestrians to pass through and linger rather than circulate.

The project draws heavily on the studio’s ongoing investigation into digitally driven form-making, where computational logic informs both geometry and assembly. The coiled structure appears fluid and organic, yet it is resolved through thousands of precisely fabricated stainless steel and aluminum components. This synthesis of algorithmic design and craft results in a form that reads simultaneously as engineered infrastructure and speculative creature, evoking associations with natural systems as well as futuristic machinery.

Experientially, Orbital is defined by a deliberate contrast between exterior and interior conditions. From a distance, the reflective, faceted surface establishes a crisp and luminous identity within the plaza, amplifying movement and light from the surrounding buildings. At close range, perforations within the metal skin introduce subtle texture and depth. Beneath the sculpture, the atmosphere shifts markedly. The interior surfaces soften the experience through color, pattern, and enclosure, creating a sheltered environment that feels intimate despite the structure’s monumental scale. At night, integrated lighting transforms the interior into a glowing lantern, extending the sculpture’s presence beyond daylight hours.

Material durability was central to the project’s realization. The use of marine-grade stainless steel and aluminum responds directly to the Bay Area’s coastal climate, ensuring longevity and minimal maintenance while preserving the sculpture’s visual clarity over time. In this sense, Orbital operates not only as an expressive artwork but also as a long-term piece of urban infrastructure.

Through its fusion of digital authorship, material rigor, and spatial generosity, Orbital demonstrates how contemporary public art can actively shape civic space. The sculpture does not merely decorate its site but animates it, offering a shared environment that encourages interaction, reflection, and a renewed awareness of the built landscape.