Greenville, NC, 2024

Haddad|Drugan has been working on the Emerald Loop Vision Plan since 2019. The plan envisions several multi-site art initiatives to incite activation and connectivity in the Center City, including right-of-way paving murals, architectural lighting, and an art trolley.

Haddad|Drugan designed a prototypical transit shelter, located along an arterial street fronting Downtown Park, that can be repeated in other locations along the Emerald Loop. Its design includes two-sided lenticular fins. The two sides of the fins contain unique images, so the shelter appears different depending on viewer vantage. Fins on the front (street-side) feature a color-manipulated historic photograph of the same street when it was historically a thriving Black residential neighborhood, before it was removed as part of the urban renewal that resulted in the current park at the site. The porches in the historic photo inspired the swing in the shelter. The image on the back (park-side), by local artist, Rakia Jackson, illustrates a radiating scene of growth and prosperity connecting older and future generations. At night, the fins are illuminated with color-changing LEDs integrated into the structure. The shelter has become a stop along the African American Cultural Trail of Greenville-Pitt County.

The Emerald Loop shelter was fabricated and installed by Studio Fifty 50, with engineering by Yetiweurks.