Fog Bridge #72494
In a city notorious for fog, this immense artwork by Fujiko Nakaya intermittently shrouds a pedestrian bridge spanning Piers 15 and 17 with clouds of mist, enveloping all in its gauzy embrace.
Debuted at the Exploratorium’s reopening in April 2013, Nakaya’s fog installation stretches across the 150-foot-long pedestrian bridge that spans the water between Piers 15 and 17.
Water pumped at high pressure through more than 800 nozzles lining the bridge creates an immersive environment that shrouds all in its midst in mist.
To help conserve water, Fog Bridge was temporarily deactivated in 2014 in response to California's multi-year drought. After being reconfigured to run on desalinated water from the Bay, it now once again bathes the bridge in periodic fog.
Although Nakaya’s fog environments have been presented around the world, this is her first project in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region famous for its dramatic fog.
San Francisco owes its fog largely to the California Current, a cold, southward-moving coastal current in the Pacific Ocean. Incoming air cools as it passes over this cold water, causing moisture in the air to condense into fog droplets.
This web project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MA-30-16-0175-16].
