Rivermark Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, PA, 2025

River Soundings rises as a beacon, plumbing the depths of the Delaware River. Shaped by history and phenomena of the river, this artwork conjures an aesthetic resonance of place.

River Soundings is a 60'-tall sculpture in the public space of Philadelphia's Rivermark Northern Liberties development, located on the Delaware River Waterfront. Composed of a spiraling steel frame strung with embellished stainless steel cables, the artwork is an actual-scale representation of the depth of the river adjacent to the site. Nighttime lighting bathes the piece in dynamic colors inspired by the river, seasonal change, and events specific to Philadelphia.

The sculpture is informed by an ancient navigational instrument called a lead line. Used to measure the depth of waterways, a lead line is a rope marked in increments of fathoms with a tapered lead sounding weight attached to its end. The lead line is cast into the water and lowered until the sounding weight reaches the riverbed. The length of the immersed portion of rope indicates the depth.

In the sculpture, each cable represents an individual lead line illustrating a sounding of the river’s depth. Reflective weights are positioned to demarcate the depth of the riverbed as measured from the top of the sculpture. The blue discs above, spaced one foot apart, flutter in the wind and scintillate in sunlight, expressing phenomena of water. At the base of the sculpture etched metal “pile pipes” provide more context about the depth and navigation of the river, with additional references to Philadelphia’s notion of Brotherly Love.

Many collaborators worked with Haddad Drugan to realize this artwork, including: Yetiweurks, structural engineering; Ignition Arts, cable fabrication and art installation; Atomic Fabrications, steel fabrication; Rebechini Studios, etching; Tany Foundry, sounding weights; Mark Fink, lighting programming; Dwight Francis, electrical installation; Dan Kelly, concrete paving; DJ Keating, general contractor; Jacque Liu, art consultant; Constance Mensh, photographer.

River Soundings was commissioned by Jefferson Apartment Group and Haverford Development Partners as part of Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation’s public art program. River Soundings is dedicated to the memory of Michael Edward Haddad and Matthew Charles Houder, and the inspiration they provided for the creation of this work.