Weatherscape / FUTUREFORMS

Architects: FUTUREFORMS
Year: 2023
Photography: Brian Wancho; Genaro Limon
Lead Architects: Jason Kelly Johnson, Nataly Gattegno
Design & Fabrication: FUTUREFORMS
Architect & Landscape Architect: Snøhetta
Structural Engineering: Endres Studio
Materials: Stainless steel, Aluminum, Acrylic
Client: City of El Paso Museum and Cultural Affairs
City: El Paso, Texas
Country: United States

Weatherscape is a sculptural canopy designed and fabricated by FUTUREFORMS for the El Paso Children’s Museum, La Nube. Installed on a second-floor terrace, the project operates as both environmental infrastructure and public artwork, offering shade, cooling, and sensory engagement in response to the region’s intense climate. Composed of circular and hexagonal assemblies, the structure integrates kinetic, reflective, and perforated elements that respond directly to sun, wind, and water. Misting systems, filtered daylight, and shifting shadows generate a series of microclimates beneath the canopy, transforming the terrace into an interactive outdoor room. Developed through computational design and digital fabrication, the project translates complex curvilinear geometries into precisely engineered components. Durable materials were selected to withstand heat, ultraviolet radiation, and corrosion, ensuring long-term durability and performance. Visible from both the museum interior and the surrounding downtown skyline, Weatherscape serves as a defining landmark for the institution while reinforcing the museum’s educational mission through direct, experiential encounters with natural phenomena.

The project distinguishes itself by treating weather not as a constraint to be mitigated, but as an active collaborator in shaping spatial experience. Rather than relying on a singular monumental form, Weatherscape is organized as a constellation of hovering elements that fragment shade and light into continuously changing patterns. This calibrated openness allows the sky to remain present while tempering its extremes, creating a space that feels simultaneously protected and exposed.

FUTUREFORMS approached the canopy as a test site for natural forces, where sunlight bends through perforated metal, wind animates suspended components, and water disperses as mist to cool the air. These effects are not decorative but instructional, making environmental processes legible at an architectural scale. The design aligns closely with the museum’s role as a place of discovery, extending learning beyond interior galleries into the public realm.

The formal language draws on organic geometries, with circular profiles suggesting cloud formations and biological growth patterns. This visual softness contrasts with the precision of the fabrication, where algorithmic design methods enabled tight tolerances and modular assembly. Stainless steel, aluminum, and acrylic were deployed not only for durability but for their capacity to reflect, refract, and filter light.

As an urban presence, Weatherscape functions as both canopy and signal. By day, it casts intricate shadows across the terrace; by night, it becomes a luminous marker within the downtown fabric. The project exemplifies FUTUREFORMS’ broader practice of integrating art, architecture, and environmental performance into civic spaces that invite participation and sustained public engagement.