Living Synergies, 2016
Temporary public art installation
The BeltLine , EastsideTrail
Atlanta, GA

Wood, steel reinforcing
8’ x 8’ x 25’

Design, fabrication, and project management

Commissioned by Art on the Atlanta BeltLine

Collaborators: Kennesaw State University, Technoglow, Cabot Stain, & many dear friends


Sherman, Jihan. “HOME + COMMUNITY / Living Synergies on the Atlanta Beltline.” Review of Living Synergies. Estelle + Boots, 23 September 2016. 

Living Synergies is a temporary public art installation designed by Mandy Palasik and Nghi Duong that challenges our perception of “home” as a static place of private refuge, suggesting the collective memory of people, place, and experience is what defines the notion. Situated along the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, the installation welcomes visitors through a portal, symbolic of a traditional house composition with a human-scaled entry symmetrically defined by a gabled roof.

Inhabitants enter an infinite “hallway” where a series of plywood frames compose the familiar enclosing structure - the “walls” and ”ceiling.” The enclosure slowly morphs into a public bench, creating an open “living room” where the adjacent views of the Atlanta skyline, lush park, and stream of trail goers become the ever-changing backdrop. The integral seating creates an inviting communal space for inhabitants to gather, converse, and enjoy the surrounding context.  Home is neither permanent nor insular.