Suchi Reddy's Turbulence 2025, a Sculptural and Sonic Installation Exploring Empathy, Ecology, and Environmental Distress, is Unveiled at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
This new public artwork, commissioned by BBG, invites visitors to see and hear the stress signals of the natural world—making the invisible visible, and the inaudible resonant
July 7, 2025 (Brooklyn, NY) — Suchi Reddy's Turbulence 2025, a site-specific sculptural and sonic installation by architect and artist Suchi Reddy, is unveiled at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, sited in BBG’s Plant Family Collection. A dynamic convergence of landscape, reflection, sound, and movement, the work offers an experiential meditation on environmental stress—both seen and unseen—and the emotional resonance of our shared ecological reality.
Commissioned by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Turbulence 2025 marks a powerful new chapter in Reddy’s ongoing inquiry into the intersections of human perception, neuroaesthetics, and environmental consciousness. Comprising two mirrored passageways—each eight feet tall and five feet wide—the installation invites visitors to walk through gently shifting planes of reflective metal that refract and distort the surrounding landscape accompanied by a sonic installation. The change in perspective created as visitors move through and around the work creates an experience of visual turbulence that mirrors the often-invisible disturbances affecting our climate.
“Turbulence 2025 is a work about listening to our environments—deeply, emotionally, and biologically,” said Reddy. “It’s about attuning to the distress signals of a living world under strain. Plants communicate when they are stressed. They emit high-frequency clicks, beyond the range of human hearing, that other species may perceive. I wanted to take that invisible sound and give it form—both visually and sonically—so that we might begin to feel the urgency that surrounds us in ways we’ve never quite heard or seen.”
The project was inspired by research on plant bioacoustics, including recent studies suggesting that stressed plants emit high-frequency ultrasonic sounds. Reddy's installation translates this phenomenon into a multi-sensory experience. Accompanying the sculptural form is a haunting and ethereal soundscape developed in collaboration with composer and sound designer Malloy James.
Layered with sonic interpretations of plant clicks and ambient distortions, the composition mirrors the emotional unease of a world out of balance—beautiful, immersive, and faintly unsettling. This is a tone that Reddy finds inspiration in, and she hopes to inspire in others, reflecting the beauty of what is broken, and the possibilities for positive innovation.
“Even in a space as serene as the Garden, the world is under stress,” said Reddy. “We are living in a time of profound planetary turbulence, where people, places, and ecosystems are breaking. Yet I am inspired by the beauty within the broken—by how awareness and empathy can lead to healing. This piece is an invitation to see differently, to feel more deeply, and to act more consciously.”
“Suchi Reddy’s Turbulence 2025 encapsulates the Garden’s vision of fostering deep connections between people and the natural world,” said Adrian Benepe, President of Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “This work bridges art, science, and environmental awareness in a way that is both poetic and powerful. It reminds us that even in stillness, there is movement—and even in beauty, there is urgency.”
Set at a crossroads near the center of Brooklyn Botanic Garden—an urban oasis at the heart of the city—the work offers a place of contemplation, prompting visitors to reflect on ecological fragility and resilience. Visitors can interact with the sculpture, pass through its reflective corridors, or sit on benches, part of the immersive installation, to observe the landscape refracted through a different lens.
Rooted in Reddy’s signature philosophy of form follows feeling, Turbulence 2025 continues her practice of integrating neuroaesthetic principles into public space. Whether designing immersive art, civic spaces, or healthcare environments, Reddy seeks to create spaces that evoke emotion, provoke awareness, and promote well-being. By making ecological stress physically and emotionally palpable, the installation speaks to the Garden’s broader mission to connect people to plants and inspire environmental stewardship.
The installation will be on view through the fall of 2025 and is free with Garden admission.
About Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Founded in 1910, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is an urban botanic garden that connects people to the world of plants, fostering delight and curiosity while inspiring an appreciation and sense of stewardship of the environment. Situated on 52 acres in the heart of Brooklyn and open year-round, the Garden is home to over 10,000 kinds of plants and more than 30 specialty gardens. Learn more at bbg.org, follow @brooklynbotanic on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and BlueSky, and join the conversation using #BrooklynBotanicGarden.
About Suchi Reddy
Suchi Reddy, FAIA, is an architect, designer, and leading figure in the field of neuroaesthetics, exploring the profound impact of design on human perception and well-being. As the founder of Reddymade, a New York-based practice established in 2002, Reddy has built a body of work spanning public art installations, civic and cultural spaces, commercial interiors, and residential projects.
Guided by her philosophy that "form follows feeling," her practice integrates neuroaesthetics and architecture to create environments that positively shape human experience . Neuroaesthetics underpins Reddy’s approach to every Reddymade project, providing a framework for understanding how design affects the brain and body. This research-driven perspective was exemplified in "A Space for Being," an installation with Google, Muuto, and the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins, which demonstrated how environments elicit measurable physiological responses. Her work extends into healthcare, where she has designed a hospital room prototype for children with disorders of consciousness, incorporating a "spatial prescription" to aid recovery.
Her work in neuroaesthetics spans design, research, and advocacy. In residential and institutional architecture, she tailors intimate environments to foster creativity, rest, and belonging, while her public installations use neuroaesthetic principles to evoke connection, wonder, and empowerment. Currently, her practice is also involved in a research initiative exploring neuroaesthetic-driven approaches to designing for neurodiversity. As a recognized leader in the field, Reddy has presented her work at Bloomberg CityLab, Aspen Ideas, and other key institutions.
Elevated to the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), Reddy is a prolific speaker, educator, and advocate for designing for wellbeing. She teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and is the 2024-2025 Christian A. Johnson Artist-in-Residence at Colgate University. She serves on the boards of the Design Trust for Public Space, Storefront for Art and Architecture, and Madame Architect, continuing to push the boundaries of architecture’s role in shaping a more empathetic, equitable, and enriching built environment. Born and raised in India, she is now based in New York City.
Media Contacts
Sara Griffin – Reddymade
sara@griffinprny.com | +1-917-656-6348
Rubenstein PR– Brooklyn Botanic Garden
bbg@rubenstein.com