ARN 605 Urban Design Art in Public Spaces
report made by:
Introduction to Public Art
Avjeet Singh
Plaha 1651004
M. Arch 1st year
Any form of art in any medium that has been designed, executed & placed in a
place/space that is accessible to the public varying from a city square or a
courtyard or wall of a building can be termed as Pubic Art. It is a form of
communication that augments the visual qualities of the place by adding a
personal touch to the place and tries to initiate a dialogue between itself, the
people and the place. It is an attempt to bring add vibrancy to a place and help
to identify it as a hub of activities. Public art is also used as a more realistic way
of expressing ideas and issues of concern to a larger audience that may not be
portrayed as effectively as possible by other media.
Figure 1 Dandi March statue, Teen murti marg, Delhi
sculpture, Chicago
Figure 2 Cloud-gate
Forms of Public Art
Examples of public art vary in many forms and can be broadly classified as :- Statues
- Sculptures
- Murals
- Graffiti
- Installations
- Landscape features
- Interactive public art
- Building as sculptural imitations
- Digital art
Figure 3 Lodhi Colony,
Delhi
The Relevance of Public Art
There is a lingering question associated with the creation of public art. As a
medium of communication and expression, Public art helps to express and
portray views and thoughts about individuals and communities and can tell
stories and issues about communities and people in a more interactive way than
just facts & figures on documents. It can help to rejuvenate an area by adding an
element of interest to the pre-existing activities of that area. As an entity of
visual curiosity, a project of public art can be identified as a landmark, as a
reference point for a place and considered as a mark of association with a place.
There are also projects of public art that can make people aware about their
communities and the ethnicities in those communities, as demonstrated by
Nancy Ann Coyne in her skywalk project, where she used the skybridges
between buildings to display photos of the different ethnic communities living in
Minnesota.
Figure 4 Skwalk project, Minnesota
Factors Governing Public Art
While public art does augment the visual characteristics of a place, there are
certain key considerations to be taken while installing it in the public domain: 1. Context the art form must be created with respect to the context where
it will be installed.
2. Readability with respect to public space the art form must be sized
proportioned and finished as per the context of the public place so that it
is easily visible to everyone.
3. Ease of access to public as it is placed in the public domain, the art
form must be easily accessible to all.
4. Unobstructed movement of public there should be no hindrance
caused in public movement due to the art-piece.
5. Ease of maintenance there should be no issues with the maintenance
& repairs of an art-piece. Furthermore, it should be the responsibility of
both public and the concerned authorities for the regular upkeep of the art
form.
Issues with Public Art
As public art is within the domain of the public, there are moments when these
art-forms are encroached upon, violated, damaged or they may even be seen
offensive to the public. Certain issues prevailing with public art are: 1. Vandalism
2. Misuse
3. Lack of Maintenance
4. Violation by mobs
5. Creation without a sense of context.
Figure 5 Parliament Square, London
Public Art in the world
Figure 6 Inverted Cube, New York
Figure 8 Trafalgar Square, London
Figure 7 Parliament Square London
With reference to the above images, the following observations can be
highlighted:1. There is adequate access for the people to observe the public art
2. The art-form is proportionate to the public space it has been installed in
and is easily seen.
3. There is no obstruction caused by the public art to the movement of the
people
4. These are well maintained.
5. These have been made keeping the context of the place.
Public Art in India
Figure 9 The Mirror,Delhi
Figure 11 Statue of Shiva,Rishikesh
Figure 10 Sri ChamRajendra Odeyar, Bangalore
With reference to the above images, the following observations can be
highlighted:1. There is varying levels of access for the people to observe the public art
2. The art-form is proportionate to the public space it has been installed in
and is easily seen.
3. There is minimal obstruction caused by the public art to the movement of
the people
4. These are maintained.
5. The context of these varies and as such cannot be commented upon.
Public Art in Roorkee a comparative study of statues in Roorkee
Roorkee, famous for the IIT and the military cantonment, has a collection of
public art forms located around the city. One can find a collection of historic
statues & busts as art forms around the city and an interesting collection of
murals, sculptures & installations within the IIT campus which are rather
exclusive campus art.
Figure 12 Valmiki statue,
Figure 12 G.B. Pant statue, IIT Roorkee
Figure 13Madan Mohan
Cawnpore roundabout
Malviya Staute,Malviya Chk
Figure 13 Lion Statue, Ganga Canal
With reference to the above images, the following observations can be
highlighted:1. Access to public varies from statue to statue, there is limited or no access
to the public.
2. Most of the statues are not proportionate to the space they have been
installed in and there is limited visibility.
3. These are sporadically maintained and have been violated by the public.
4. Most of these have been placed without considering the context of place.
5. Because of the context they have been placed in, these are a hindrance
for the public.
Intervention for lion statue at Upper Ganga Canal
There are two majestic-lion statues situated at
either side of the canal. Historically important, these
were created during the colonization of India by
the British.
The ghat along the upper Ganga Canal road has
been rendered off to the public due to the renewal
of construction of the new bridge. Consequently,
temporary labour shelters & material & equipment
stores have been constructed on the ghat, and
Figure
14 Area
behind &
petrol
pumpto the lion statue has been
access,
physical
visual,
cut-off from the public and it has been kept in a
state of neglect. There is an outcrop of native
vegetation behind
behind the
the petrol
petrol pump.
pump.
vegetation
As a design intervention, once the construction of
the bridge is completed, the ghat around the statue
and the park behind the petrol pump can be
cleaned and refurbished with hardscaping so that it
opens to the public and, the statue, as a part of the
Figure
15 Encroached
ghat
ghat/public
space,
can be restored to its historical
significance.
Figure 16 Blocked access
Figure17 Proposed intervention
References
Senie, H & Webster, S 2004, Critical Issues in Public art- Content,
Context and Controversy, Chapter 22: Temporality and Public art pp. 295-312
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mccarthy, John 2006, Regeneration of Cultural Quarters: Public Art for
Place Image or Place Identity?, Journal of Urban Design, 11:2, 243-262
Nick Schuermans , Maarten P.J. Loopmans & Joke Vandenabeele (2012)
Public space, public art and public pedagogy, Social & Cultural Geography,
13:7, 675-682, DOI: 10.1080/14649365.2012.728007
[Link] viewed on October 08, 2015
[Link] , viewed on October 08, 2015
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viewed on October 15, 2015
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viewed on October 26, 2015
Public Art & Urban Design-interdisciplinary & social perspectivesUniversitat de Barcelona- [Link]
Urban design, public realm & public art-City of Westminster[Link]
Percent for public art program-[Link]
[Link]
This public artwork in New Delhi will disappear on May 15
[Link]
How is this art?: New stone sculptures in public spaces leave Delhi befuddled
[Link]