To lighten the structure the columns were designed to arc outward, to make the plaza space feel more open to the air. About the columns, the project designer, Stefan Fediuk, said, “In honour of the First Nations who settled along the ‘Bending River’ (today known as the Detroit River), the back sides of the columns form a series of tridents to symbolize the Ojibway, Ottawa and Potawatamie who make up the People of the Three Fires. The tridents are illuminated from the base to further appear like fires burning as a symbol of the People of Three Fires.”