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Luftwerk-Designed Water Sculpture To Be Installed in Couch Place Alley

 FLOW/ImFluss by Luftwerk will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Sister Cities Chicago and Hamburg.
FLOW/ImFluss
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THE LOOP — The latest art installation aiming to "activate" Couch Place Alley will use water and light to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Chicago's sister city relationship with Hamburg, Germany.

"FLOW/Im Fluss" will be fired up nightly from Sept. 17-20 between 5 p.m and midnight in the alley on the west side of State Street between Lake and Randolph streets.

Early renderings of the piece designed by Luftwerk — the sculptural team of Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, who also designed Millennium Park's light and sound-based Luminous Field — show backlit water droplets suspended in linear formations.

The piece was commissioned by the Chicago Loop Alliance as part of its ongoing "placemaking" initiative to bring traffic to underused corners of the Loop. "FLOW/ImFluss" is presented in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Chicago and the Natural Resources Defense Council to commemorate Chicago's 1994 sister city partnership with Hamburg.

"Since both cities are located on rivers, FLOW is a gesture addressing the connectivity through water ways in general, while taking a closer look at the specific data readings of the two rivers, Elbe and Chicago River," Luftwerk’s Bachmaier said in a release.

Bachmaier and Gallero have lived in both Chicago and Hamburg, bringing extra meaning to the assignment, Bachmaier said.

The week-long installation will kick off with a reception Sept. 17. Attendees who RSVP in advance will get one complimentary drink ticket, and beer and wine will also be available for sale at the 5 p.m. launch party. RSVP information will be available soon on the Loop Alliance's website.

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