MEANDER WINGS

austin-bergstrom International airport - austin, texas

Commissioned by City of Austin Art in Public Places Program.
Design + Computation by MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY.
All images are copyrighted by THEVERYMANY and Iwan Baan (No use or reproduction allowed without written authorization).

Meander Wings, designed by MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY, is both a sculptural experience and a purposeful landmark in the choreography of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Rising between the airport’s parking structures, it becomes the connective tissue between arrival and departure — a signature procession that travelers pass through on their way in or out of the city.

Its form unfolds in sweeping curves, twisting and bending like a ribbon caught mid-air, recalling the motion of wings in flight. At ground level, the structure invites visitors to slow down and look up. Patterns of perforation scatter dappled light across the pavement, so that each step falls in rhythm with shifting spots of sun and shadow. Above, the arcs ascend, gathering height and momentum, as though the entire work were a bird leaning into the wind, ready to lift.

Here, movement is not just a matter of direction but of feeling. For those arriving, Meander Wings offers a first glimpse of Austin’s creative spirit — playful, inventive, and full of energy. For those leaving, it becomes a final memory: an image of flight, a reminder of journeys taken and journeys to come.

It is a place where stories cross paths. Freshly reunited friends and family pause beneath it, laughter and embraces punctuating the space. Jetsetters stride forward with luggage in tow, casting quick glances upward at the sculptural canopy above. The piece captures both the anticipation of departure and the warmth of arrival.

In this way, Meander Wings is more than a passageway. It is a moment framed, a gesture frozen mid-flight, a threshold that turns the simple act of coming and going into something ceremonial — a send-off and a welcome, in equal measure.