CONFLUENCIA
Type: Shade Structure, Gathering Space, Community Engagement
Completion: 2026
Location: Surprise Community and Resource Center; Surprise, AZ
Team: Collaboration with James Dinh/Studiofolia
Medium: Concrete, Steel, Aluminum, Lithomosaic®, Electrical
Dimensions: 18’H x 50’W x 65’D
Commissioned by: City of Surprise
Structural Engineering: Structural Engineering Excellence
Steel Fabrication: Magnum Companies
Concrete & LithoMosaic® Install: Progressive Hardscapes
Electrical: Conservative LLC
Mosaic: Mandy Palasik & James Dinh
The Confluencia project responds to the need for a multi-generational community gathering space that offers vital shade in Surprise, Arizona. Our design is inspired by the spirit of water—manifested in its many forms—and the close-knit, resilient, and proud community of the Original Town Site. Water, as both a precious resource and the lifeblood of the agricultural foundation that shaped Surprise, serves as a metaphor bridging the past and the future.
Our design for a gathering plaza is created by the meeting, or confluence, or two pathways symbolic of rivers - the river of the past and the river of the future. Terraced seating unfolds like canyon walls shaped by time, while a central mosaic “river” traces a path through the space. Hues of sunrise and sunset register the passage of time, accented by threads of silver and gold that catch the light like water in motion.
Above the plaza, a series of metallic, cloud-like canopies hover. The cotton-bloom shapes honor the community’s legacy in the Pima cotton industry. Their reflective metal surfaces capture the colors and movement of the activities below, symbolizing the present moment where the past and future converge.
Community engagement was integral to the development of the design. Through multigenerational oral history workshops, we brought youth and longtime residents together to share stories, explore local history, and strengthen connections across generations. Youth participants learned interviewing and oral history recording techniques, documenting the memories and lived experiences of community members. These exchanges grounded the project in the people and histories that define the Original Town Site, ensuring the artwork reflected not only the area's agricultural roots but also the pride, resilience, and collective identity of its residents. Excerpts from these oral histories were inscribed onto metal strips woven throughout the plaza, allowing community voices to become a permanent part of the landscape, and were also compiled into a book for the community, preserving these stories for future generations.
