March 29, 2019

On the Cover: 4 Public Art Installations Engage the Eye and the Mind

These four public art installations in Spain, Germany, and South Korea captivate passersby with their form, color, and texture.

Invisibles by Jaume Plensa. Photography by Luis Asín/Plensa Studio Barcelona.

“The convex and concave forms of the heads visually echoed the architecture.”

Designer: Jaume Plensa

Project: Invisibles

Location: Madrid

Standout: The site-specific installation in the glass-enclosed Palacio de Cristal, a 19th-century former conservatory, consisted of three of the sculptor’s signature human faces, these steel-mesh versions reaching 21 feet high, caught mid shush.

Woolscape by A+U Lab. Photography by Junho Lee/Lawrence Kim.

“It shows how an unconventional building material can partition a space.”

Designer: A+U Lab

Project: Woolscape

Location: Pusan, South Korea

Standout: In the lobby of the architecture and engineering building at the city’s national university, 12,000 lengths of dyed wool yarn are strung between timber frames and hung from nylon wire to function as a spatial device.

ICD Aggregate Pavilion by Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart. Photography by Roland Halbe.

“Like sand, the spikes have the stability of a solid but can reconfigure like liquid.”

Designer: Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart

Project: ICD Aggregate Pavilion

Location: Germany

Standout: Dropped in a campus building by a robot, 70,000 pieces of injection-molded recycled plastic interlocked into a tumbleweed structure around a void created by inflated balls that were subsequently removed.

My Secret Garden by Arne Quinze. Photography by Dave Bruel.

“Successful cities of the future will seamlessly interweave nature and culture.”

Designer: Arne Quinze

Project: My Secret Garden

Location: Valencia, Spain

Standout: Juxtaposing Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences complex, six welded-aluminum, acrylic-painted sculptures were inspired by the wild flowers of the designer-artist’s native Belgium.

Keep scrolling to view more images of the installations >

Invisibles by Jaume Plensa. Photography by Luis Asín/Plensa Studio Barcelona.

Woolscape by A+U Lab. Photography by Junho Lee/Lawrence Kim.

Woolscape by A+U Lab. Photography by Junho Lee/Lawrence Kim.

Woolscape by A+U Lab. Photography by Junho Lee/Lawrence Kim.

Woolscape by A+U Lab. Photography by Junho Lee/Lawrence Kim.

ICD Aggregate Pavilion by Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart. Photography by Roland Halbe.

My Secret Garden by Arne Quinze. Photography by Dave Bruel.

My Secret Garden by Arne Quinze. Photography by Dave Bruel.

My Secret Garden by Arne Quinze. Photography by Dave Bruel.

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