Melissa Brown, Buildings Above Clouds, Verrazano, Palisades, 2017, IS 125 Addition, Queens

Melissa Brown’s Buildings Above Clouds, Verrazano and Palisades is an immersive three-part artwork installed in the lobby of the new IS 125 Addition in Queens. Brown created an aluminum ceiling-hung sculpture and two relief murals of iconic New York City bridges and buildings. Each landmark hangs in the same direction as you would see them from standing outside the school. For example, the George Washington Bridge is depicted on the northern wall of the lobby, the Manhattan skyline faces west, and the Verrazano Bridge and the Narrows are shown on the southern wall.  
 
The hanging sculpture features five structures, all laid out geographically: The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the United Nations Building, the midtown building that houses Norman Thomas High School and a Queens water tower. When standing in the second floor hallway, viewers can see both the real Empire State Building and Brown’s version of it simultaneously. Brown used these landmarks and laid them out as they appear so that students walking by could gain a greater sense of the landscape of New York City.