Meander
How will you meander?
Look up.
Meander, the largest permanent living architecture sculpture in the world, awaits you at Tapestry Hall in Cambridge Ontario. Experience a dreamlike journey into the structures and beauty of nature within the Grand River. Engage with a sculpture that was specifically created to engage back with you. Its meshwork spheres, billowing cloud canopies and water-like formations react to your movements with sounds, light and movements of its own as it constantly adapts and learns from its audience.
Look up and feel joy, awe and wonder while you learn what nature can teach us about strength, sustainability and diversity.
Look up, meander at Tapestry Hall and change the way you dream.
Meander is a soaring, flowing installation of spheres, columns and canopies, suspended from the wood timber ceiling of Tapestry Hall – a new event space housed in a historic limestone factory along the Grand River. It was created by world-renowned artist, designer and University of Waterloo Architecture professor Philip Beesley with the Living Architecture Systems Group, a Waterloo-based collective of artists, architects, engineers, software developers and scientists.
About the ArtistThe Making of Meander
Living architecture is inspired by organicism, the philosophy and art of learning from nature. Nature is full of complex interwoven parts that allow it to not just survive but constantly change and thrive. Meander is also made of many tiny interconnected parts, interwoven with sensors and actuators that “talk” to each other and adapt and respond to viewers. It is like a sculptural, architectural representation of nature.
The importance of living architecture is that it shows a potential to change how we build by transforming the physical structures that support buildings and the technical systems that control them.
Learn MoreEducation
Learning from Meander
Meander is a work of art, but it is also a collaborative web of science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM).
STEAM in not an exercise in learning more about these subjects in isolation. It is a way of thinking that purposely requires people to blend that knowledge… to let their minds meander…and arrive at new solutions. In the near future, the sculpture will serve as a STEAM school curriculum for the next generation of Waterloo Region’s thinkers, creators and inventors.
This sculpture was commissioned by HIP Developments, in partnership with the City of Cambridge, to help inspire and transform the community. The Grand River reminds us of how we built the region’s industry and prosperity, but it can also teach us how to prosper in the future.
Learning with MeanderA Unique Setting
Tapestry Hall offers a perfect juxtaposition setting to Meander’s flowing lines. The 100-year-old limestone walls and the cathedral like ceiling of this industrial building tell the tale of historic Galt’s attempt to tame the Grand River into submission and the river’s rebellious floods. But today these two visual experiences provide a stunning space to consider our collaborative future with nature. You are invited to come, meander and dream.
See Programs & EventsMeander, presented in partnership by HIP Developments and the City of Cambridge is FREE of charge. It is open to the public during the following times:
Hours of operation
There are currently no viewing hours due to the COVID-19 Red level restrictions. We will update our hours once restrictions have changed.