Hybrid Icons
Based on the history and technology of hybridized corn and the Cold War Era visit of Nikita Khruschev to the nearby Roswell Garst Farms, these icons have become a major destination feature and marker that changes from day to night with dramatic interior illumination.
The silo forms recall the agricultural architecture of grain silos and drying bins. Contained inside each structure are symbols of scientific research: cellular structure, protein building blocks, and DNA genomic mapping. The base of each silo is banded by terra cotta Echo-Blocks ® from a "Nature" series (soil, water, leaves), tying in with the rows of plantings at the site. Images of the Coon Rapids community are also displayed in narrative GFRC inserts in four trail markers found along the installation.