Downtown Detroit skybridge to light up this weekend

The bridge connecting two of Detroit’s iconic skyscrapers will light up as a new art installation this weekend. Linking One Woodward and the Guardian Building, the 100-foot, 16-story-high skybridge will dazzle with an array of colors by by contemporary artist Phillip K. Smith III.

Photo By Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

The public is invited to an opening reception in the Spirit of Detroit Plaza on Saturday, August 25 from 8-10 p.m. The unveiling will include food trucks, music by CutTime Players and poetry from Kevlar Afrika. The music and words are meant to accompany the installation, presenting a multi-sensory experience.

A press release describes the installation as, “Composed of shifting gradients and moving planes of light, this precisely paced installation will merge art with architecture at the scale of the city.”

The installation takes inspiration from the colorful Art Deco mosaics of the 1929 Guardian Building, contrasting with the modular white concrete of Minoru Yamasaki’s 1962 midcentury office building One Woodward.

A partnership between Library Street Collective, Bedrock (who owns One Woodward), Wayne County (with offices located in the Guardian Building), and Quicken Loans is bringing the installation here.

This will be a permanent installation in downtown Detroit.