Introduction
Photo: Max Pixel
Licensed By: CC0
Like many of you, I live in a city where there is scarcely a square metre of land that some architect, planner or designer hasn’t tampered with – sometimes with spectacular results, other times, not. Significantly, we are rarely asked about these intrusions. They just happen.
Public art is an important exception to this state of affairs – a way of improving our lives by creating meaningful forms and spaces and, in many municipalities, asking for our opinion about it (or the opinion of our representatives). Through public art, we get to feel the environment and engage with it in a way that is personal and meaningful.
In the essays that follow, a number of contributors discuss environmental art: art in public spaces, art in communal spaces, art applied to architecture, and artwork inspired by architecture and landscapes.
Carved in Stone
In Ontario, stone has traditionally been employed in the construction of buildings that were intended to last a hundred years or more. In some communities, including Guelph and Kingston, the availability of nearby stone quarries meant the material had broader use. For banks, insurance companies, institutions and government buildings, stone was a first choice. It was synonymous with stability and permanence.
Art and Architecture – A Personal Journey
Full disclosure: I wasn’t one of those kids who grew up knowing they wanted to be an architect, impressing their parents with their towering Lego creations. My life’s ambition, until I turned seventeen, was to be a ballerina. My father was an architect.
Efficient Art + Architecture in a Seniors’ Social Housing Project
There it was in the project documentation: a small allowance for special wall treatment. It was in the mid-1980s, and I was reviewing the drawings and specifications for a small seniors’ housing project.
Experiential Art & Architecture
The idea of art in public spaces goes back at least 3,000 years, to the statue of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, immortalized in Shelley’s poem Ozymandias.
UX and Architecture User Experience vs. “Being Interesting”
Apple Park, located in Cupertino, California, and designed by the award-winning architecture firm Foster + Partners, fully opened its doors in 2017. It cost roughly five billion dollars and took six years to come to fruition.
The City: Listening to the Street
I believe that most city dwellers have something in common. We all love our city. So I want to share something with you that I learned quite recently.