Group Health Headquarters
Seattle,Washington
Claudia Fitch
Placeholders, 2007
Painted steel
(Images © Claudia Fitch, 2007)

Placeholders, an artwork installation in multiple parts by Claudia Fitch, refers to the “survivor tree” landscape of early Terry Avenue. Using the urban vocabulary of brick, steel and street landscaping, the asymmetrical composition of oval elements is balanced in counterpoint to the straightforward geometry created by the sidewalk and building facade along Thomas Street and Terry Avenue. When the street was originally developed for industrial use in the late 19^th century, the neighborhood contained remnants of the site’s original old growth forests with the occasional tall evergreen standing in sharp contrast to the newly- formed urban grid.