The 1990s brought major improvements to campus facilities including, most notably, completion of a new $18 million Student Recreation Center, installation of a $13 million fiber-optic cable network, and a $32 million expansion of J. Y. Joyner Library. The massive Joyner upgrade added three and a half acres of floor space, 17 miles of new bookshelves, a conservation and preservation lab, and 250 computers, making the facility virtually brand-new. However, the showcase addition was outside: the library’s Sonic Plaza, the campus’ most innovative, unique, and controversial architectural landmark.
The Joyner expansion was funded largely through a university construction bond approved by North Carolina voters in November 1993. A short-lived “Artworks for State Buildings Program,” administered by the North Carolina Arts Council and allowing up to .5% of the overall construction budget for associated artwork, enabled funding for Sonic Plaza. At the Founders Day celebration, March 9, 1999, university officials proudly dedicated the plaza and the newly expanded Joyner Library. Two years later, the university dedicated part of Sonic Plaza, its iconic clock tower, to Fred Langford and Verona Joyner-Langford, recent benefactors of the university and its library.
The North Carolina Arts Council described the multifaceted Sonic Plaza as follows.
Sonic Plaza consists of four distinct elements—Sonic Gates, Percussion Water Wall, Media Glockenspiel, and Ground Cloud. The playful, interactive character of these works belies the complexity of the various computer systems that activate them. At the entrance to the plaza, Sonic Gates enhances the original classical columns of the library plaza.
As people pass through the columns, they trigger photoelectric cells that activate a variety of melodic sounds from speakers hidden from view. The more people, the more sounds. The Percussion Wall is equipped with 64 water jets arranged in a grid. Water spews out in continuously changing patterns, synchronized to a composed percussive score.
Within an 85-foot high clock tower, [the Sonic Plaza designer, Christopher] Janney installed Media Glockenspiel. Like the glockenspiels of old, Janney’s clock has a large, central trapdoor from which sculptures emerge four times a day. Instead of a clock face, a dozen video monitors surround the glockenspiel door. Finally, a misting fountain in anopen area of the plaza emits a cloud of hovering water vapor. Even the slightest changes in wind speed and direction alter the cloud’s shape.
Janney, himself an architect and musician, conceived of Sonic Plaza not only as a fun, interactive space but also as a laboratory for student learning. Students in the media arts, music, dance and even computer sciences work with faculty to arrange compositions for the gates and wall and to create new video works for the glockenspiel.
To highlight Sonic Plaza, a new campus entrance from 10th Street to the south end of the plaza was constructed, ushering students, faculty, and community members to the Ground Cloud, a 12-foot circle interactively bellowing mist and designed, Janney related, to “dance according to the whim of the wind, at times static, at times furious.” Commenting on the plaza as a whole, Janney observed, “This will make for a public space that is lively and interesting and ever-changing. There won’t be another piece like this anywhere in the world.”
While many admired the creativity evident in the plaza and its nods to ECU’s strong programs in music and the arts, the plaza has had its critics: one piece in the East Carolinian lamented, reportedly, that the money could have been better spent on books or an entrance that did not set off music and water. Others eagerly admired the plaza: the American Institute of Architects, Triad Section, awarded the plaza a design award even before construction began. Whatever the judgment, Sonic Plaza quickly became one of the most frequented campus sites as students and faculty passed through it regularly en route to the library. With construction of the massive Student Center south of Sonic Plaza, the plaza’s prominence has been both diminished and yet enhanced: while the 10th Street entrance was sacrificed for the Student Center, foot traffic between the center and campus mall via Sonic Plaza has made the latter one of ECU’s most artistic and symphonic corridors.
Sources
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- Daniel, Kristy. “Joyner Library Dedication to be held on Founder’s Day.” East Carolinian. February 23, 1999. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58827
- Dawyot, Peter. “Founders Day celebrates achievement.” March 9, 1999. East Carolinian. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58831
- “Dedication of J.Y. Joyner Library.” University Archives # UA55.01.4878. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56624
- ECU News Services. “Sonic Plaza takes shape.” https://news.ecu.edu/1997/10/22/sonic-plaza-takes-shape/
- Graham, Kelly. “Library construction almost finished.” East Carolinian. November 12, 1998. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58811
- Janney, Christopher. “Sonic Plaza.” January 3, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7e7iBl0fWc
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- Kellum, Jacqueline. “Joyner Library Well-Received.” East Carolinian. September 17, 1996. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58644
- Milenkevich, Susanne. “Creator of Sonic Plaza speaks about four main components.” East Carolinian. November 17, 1998. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58812
- North Carolina Arts Council. Creating Place: North Carolina’s Artworks for State Buildings. Raleigh: North Carolina Arts Council. P. 30.
- “Peaceful Plaza.” East Carolinian. October 8, 1998. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58801
- Ramey, Craig. “Friends of Joyner Library unveil new logo.” East Carolinian. February 3, 1998. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58753
- Ramey, Craig. “Completion of Joyner courtyard construction expected this summer.” East Carolinian. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58754
- Reflector Staff. “ECU Notes: New Sculptures emerge from iconic timepiece.” Daily Reflector. July 9, 2017, updated Oct. 2, 2019. https://www.reflector.com/news/local/ecu-notes-new-sculptures-emerge-from-iconic-timepiece/article_3c3b3530-5c3b-5958-bc64-b864158eb53c.html
- “Sonic Plaza.” https://www.janneysound.com/project/sonic-plaza-greenville-nc/
- “Sonic Plaza.” 1997-2000. University Archives # UA55.01.680. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57038
- “Sonic Plaza.” 1999. University Archives # UA55.02.9. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10187
- Stancill, Jane. “Couple leaves $8 million to ECU.” News and Observer. July 26, 2001. Pp. 1, 15A.
- Stonebeck, Katie. “Multimedia clock tower grabs attention in Sonic Plaza.” PirateMedia1. April 8, 2009. Updated March 10, 2020. http://www.piratemedia1.com/archives/article_b7e58004-cd35-548d-8d4b-814612f564d3.html
- Tatum, Amber. “Sonic plaza plans underway.” East Carolinian. November 6, 1997. P. 1. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58740
- “Water wall dancers.” 1998. University Archives # UA55.01.4998. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/23448
- Winslow, Ali. “Chimes, they are a changing.’” East Carolinian. January 13, 2013, updated May 12, 2020. http://www.piratemedia1.com/theeastcarolinian/news/article_04545e82-f0e3-558f-947b-9b6fb032e505.html
- “Winter Snow at ECU.” University Archives # UA55.02.1511. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/35369
Additional Related Material
Dedication of J.Y. Joyner Library on Founder's Day, March 8, 1999 following renovations taken in front of the clock tower from the Sonic Plaza outside the library.
Citation Information
Title: Joyner Library Sonic Plaza, 1998
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 10/5/2020