A public artwork you can play with comes to Union Square
Photos by Jane Kratochvil, courtesy of Union Square Partnership
A new interactive public sculpture designed by Fashion Institute of Technology students opened at University Plaza in Union Square last week. Created in collaboration with the Union Square Partnership (USP), “Bead Maze” reimagines a doctor’s waiting-room toy as a large-scale artwork featuring interactive plywood beads connected by bent steel pipes and a color palette inspired by the vibrancy of the Union Square Greenmarket. The project, located between 13th and 14th Streets, was brought to life by design collective Scale Rule, which works pro bono to help realize student concepts through design, fabrication, and installation.
The massive artwork measures 26.5 feet by 13 feet, with heights ranging from 3 feet to 12 feet. It features curved steel pipes with movable plywood beads, with a signature acrylic bead resting atop the highest pipe serving as an “identifiable visual beacon.”
Arranged at varying heights across University Plaza, the installation invites visitors to move through its twisting form and slide beads along its winding pipes, an homage to the curving tunnels of the subway below. It is intended to evoke nostalgia across generations, offering a playful and memorable experience for visitors.
Scale Rule also worked with architectural studio Grimshaw and engineers Schlaich Bergermann Partner (sbp) to create the project. Bob Fisch, a member of the FIT Foundation Board, funded the installation and donated $1,500 to each of the seven students. Brooklyn-based A05 Studio fabricated the installation.
The design collective collaborates with architects and engineers and works pro bono to bring student concepts to life. It recently worked with Grimshaw and Schlaich Bergermann Partner on similar public art installations at the Queens Botanical Garden and Hofstra University.
“The public spaces in our cities are experienced by everyone, but too often shaped by too few,” Dan Bergsagel, co–founder of Scale Rule, said. “At Scale Rule, our mission is to bring more people into the process of designing the built environment we all inhabit.”
“Bead Maze has been an exciting opportunity to advance that aim with a new student cohort and at a different scale, embedded in one of the city’s most vibrant cultural crossroads,” he added.
The project builds on Union Square’s evolving public arts program, which includes the 7,500-square-foot 14th Street Busway mural, now in its sixth year. This year’s installation features artist Shantell Martin’s “Get Outside,” a mural encouraging viewers to reconnect with the outdoors and their communities while celebrating Union Square’s role as a hub for gatherings.
“Bead Maze is exactly the kind of artwork we want to champion in Union Square—visually compelling, deeply collaborative, and rooted in the life of the neighborhood,” Julie Stein, executive director of USP, said.
“We’re proud to work alongside the project team to continue to grow Union Square as a place where art thrives,” she added. “This project proves how shared spaces create unique opportunities for artists to build visibility while enriching our neighborhoods and inviting the public to experience civic space in new ways.”
FIT participated in the initiative to bring student creativity “into dialogue” with the city’s communities. The college plans to expand its public art programming on campus. Its collaboration with the USP reflects the district’s growing role as a hub for public art and a launchpad for emerging artists.
“Bead Maze” will be on view through November 2026.
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