Architect Richard Gluckman has worked with major artists on projects throughout his storied career, but he told AN that his contribution to Infinite Harmony, a serpentine sculpture on view through February 12 in the Oculus at the World Trade Center, represents the first direct collaboration as an artist himself. Gluckman and principal Andrew Weigand from Gluckman Tang teamed up with visual artist Warren King and television producerand the concepts producerDanielle Chang, for the Lunar New Year tribute. The teams snake installation is made up of 230 CNC-cut aluminum panels organized into a serpentine shape that winds 150 feet along the Oculus floor. The undulating pattern, color, and materials play off the Oculuss ribbed patterns, the signature of Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava.Site-specific in nature, Infinite Harmony was created when Chang and King sought a follow-up to a previous Lunar New Year collaboration staged outside the Oculus in 2019. Then they created a living rice paddy culinary project associated with Changs LUCKYRICEwhich is a sort of experiential agency devoted to Asian food and culturefor the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns and operates the World Trade Center campus.The installation takes center stage in the space by Santiago Calatrava. (Jesper Haynes)Chang told AN that she and King, a multimedia artist best known for his work making sculptures from corrugated cardboard, had been looking for an opportunity to reunite and work with the Port Authority again when she conceived of a Year of the Snake sculpture.I had an idea of creating a snake in a large format that would work well in the context of the Oculus and the World Trade Center, and that also gave a symbol of hope for the Lunar New Year, Chang explained to AN. I just wanted Lunar New Year to be celebrated by everybody, and not thought of as this weird Chinese holiday. The sculpture was unveiled January 29 to coincide with the start of the Lunar New Year and will come down February 12, when the celebration ends. Though the team told AN that it is hoping to find a new home for the sculpture, Chang and Gluckman floated the idea of finding a real estate developer who could repurpose the snake in a building or even outdoors, albeit with some caveats: it cant be exposed to water or high winds, Gluckman noted.Thats understandable, given the fabrication of this unique structure. King explained that he and Chang played with the idea of a Mobius shape, where the inside becomes the outside, King said. The twisting and interrelated shape exist like the yin and yang, well-known symbols of harmony.The snake has a discernible head and tail (Jesper Haynes)King created the model using corrugated cardboard, and Gluckman Tang set out to fabricate the sculpture to its serpentine specifications, while also referencing the Oculuss dramatic shapes. We wanted to respond to it but subtly contrast as well, said Weigand. When you look at the Oculus everything is kind of filleted at a radius, with smooth, matte finishes. The snake is all faceted, angular, sharp, folded, and glossy.Gluckman added that the installation is also a reaction to the organic quality of the building and Calatravas interest in organic forms, mimicking biological cyst exoskeletons.The installation is on view through February 12. (Jesper Haynes)While the architects considered plywood and other potentially flammable materials, building codes wouldnt allow it, so the Gluckman Tang team came up with the idea to use an aluminum composite material.From there, the project came together quickly. Weigand said that they began the design process in November, solidified the concept by the end of 2024, and then began working with fabricators at New Project to create the model. Assembly took just two weeks.The snake makes for a striking addition to the almost cathedral-like Oculus environ, and while its time there is short, perhaps the sculpture will live on in another context soon.