JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Perkins & Will came out on top in the design competition for Riverfront Plaza with a vision for a new downtown park featuring a massive stainless steel statue.
The structure is designed by Jefre, who is known throughout Florida for crafting public art pieces. His work has also been featured in big cities like Manila and London.
But who exactly is Jefe, and why was this design chosen?
Well, one thing is for sure, he has a thing for things that shine. His official Instagram account is filled with photos of his unique metallic creations.
Some of those creations were recently featured in a solo museum exhibition at the Orlando Museum of Art. The exhibition ran from September 2020 to January 2021 and featured large-scale multimedia sculptures and installations.
Now, he has his sights on Jacksonville. *Story continues below.
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The 'Icon for Jacksonville', as he describes the structure on Instagram, is "intended to be a symbol and metaphor for the relationship between the mighty St. John’s River and the people of the city."
He says the structure is mean to mean different things to different people depending on what angle it's viewed from.
He says it also meant to look like an “anchor” rising from the water to honor the large Navy population here.
"The St. John’s River is a gatekeeper of stories and history of cities along its banks," writes Jefe on Instagram. "As it arrives to Jacksonville, we pay tribute to the mighty river by having it rise up vertically into the skyline of the city and reflect its knowledge and wisdom to visitors before descending back into the Atlantic Ocean and rest of the world."
He says from inside the sculpture, the metal appears to flow up and down to form a series of nautical figure eight sailing knots, paying tribute to the boat and sailing industry of Jacksonville