At the Florida Turnpike Turkey Lake Plaza, Cortada depicted Florida’s sunshine and the water-bound diatoms that harness the power of the sun to create oxygen. Diatoms are responsible for generating for 1/3 of the air we breathe.

“Conceptually,” Cortada stated, “I wanted to track a day in the life across the Sunshine State:

• Sunrise: Huge sunrays rise above the Northbound entrance (on the east side of the Turkey Lake plaza),
• High Noon: life-giving diatoms appear as circles on the ceiling at the center of the building at high noon, and
• Sunset: the rays set above the Southbound entrance on the west.”