The artwork was conceived by Riccardo Mariano originally as an entry to the LAGI 2019 Abu Dhabi design competition. In 2021, the LAGI directors, Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry, were invited to speak at the annual CODAworx public art conference, CODAsummit, presenting the Barbara Tober Keynote Address: Reimagining Public Art as Energy Landscapes for a Post-Carbon World.

Following the conference, LAGI and the Acronym Fund — a foundation dedicated to advancing arts and culture established by Donald and Barbara Tober — began to pursue the construction of a full-scale LAGI artwork somewhere in the United States. 

The City of Houston’s Mayor’s Office soon offered to host such a project and convened a stakeholder committee who selected the Arch of Time through a competitive process.