There are few examples of true collaboration between art and architecture, notes Vivienne Francis.
Attempts at marrying the two have not always been successful, with art often seen as the decorative add-on, controlled by the architect. In fact, one of the favourite games of Richard Rogers, designer of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, was to wander around Paris determining where the one per cent of the budget of the city?s modern buildings had been spent on art ? so at odds were the two.
But a recently completed project in Bradford has shown the disciplines can be brought together in a very happy synthesis. In January six ?bus shelters for the new millennium? were unveiled as part of a £12m guided bus scheme. Sporting wind turbines, which produce energy to heat the seats and containing interactive art installations, the shelters designed by the Culture Company are a testament to what can be achieved when the two disciplines work together.
The key to achieving the unified and complementary relationship between art and architecture in this project lay in recognising and accepting the core differences between them. Nicola Stephenson, of the Culture Company, said: ?The disciplines are traditionally in two separate camps. The feeling is that they have quite different approaches, but the synergy of the two can make for really interesting results. It is about making imaginative additions to the built environment in a way that is more seamless than having a sculpture on a plinth. We were very keen to get away from the idea of public art being an object. We wanted to go for something that people used everyday like a bus shelter, usually quite a mundane, boring place to spend time. We wanted to demonstrate what effect a creative partnership could have on something like a bus shelter that is often disregarded in the design stakes.?
The Culture Company commandeered the architectural expertise of Leeds-based Bauman Lyons, who have a history of successfully merging the creative concerns of the two disciplines in the public domain ? and recognising the pitfalls. Irena Bauman said: ?I have done a lot of collaborations before. It is certainly possible for them to fail. I have had one or two fail because there was no common ground between the two, just different approaches, different ways of working and different philosophies. With this project we all wanted the same thing and there was enough room for each of us to express a part of the design. It was beautifully clear. There was one concept and a number of different installations within it.?
Artists, Greyworld and Tim Etches were next aboard the project, charged with creating installations for the two ?super shelters?, at the start and end of the scheme, which would blend with the architecture. International artists Greyworld installed hidden colour-recognition cameras in two of the stops, which create sounds triggered by a change of hue. Etchells designed The Twenty Four, a display ?clock?, which changes every minute to show the time and a line of narrative describing imagined events and images in the city. Andrew Shobern of Greyworld said: ?I have always been sceptical of working with architects in the past. We have had some problems because architects often want to control every area. Bauman Lyons are very artist-friendly so this project was integrated in a much more fundamental way than some commissions we have had in the past.?
It appears that the initial desire to go beyond public art in the traditional sense and create something that not only blends perfectly with architecture but with everyday life has hit home. Weathering initial cynicism in this straight-talking northern city, the bus shelters have now become a proud landmark and have boosted Bradford?s bid to be the Capital of Culture 2008.
Vivienne Francis is Media Relations Administrator at Anita Morris Associates. t: 01943 603311; e: vivienne@anitamorrisassociates.co.uk