VIEW A PREVIEW OF THE GUIDE

(Please note this is a free reduced version without case studies. For the full version, please click the links below).

ULI UK members and friends assembled in the London Living Room at London City Hall for a breakfast briefing that introduced a new guide set to help improve the creation and integration of quality public art and cultural infrastructure within development.

With a striking view of London’s skyline in the background, Hala El Akl, Chair of the ULI UK Urban Art Forum and Director at PLP Architecture, warmly welcomed the audience. The Urban Art Forum, as Hala introduced, focusses on the reciprocal relationships between public art, culture and music and the city, exploring issues such as cultural placemaking and understanding the impacts of urban art on property values. After discussing the challenges and successes of past experiences within the group, two main issues came to light: a lack of shared language and a lack of clear steps on how to get started. The guide, which is the Urban Art Forum’s first publication, comes as a response to address these issues. Outlining six steps, the publication sets to improve the creation and integration of quality public art and cultural infrastructure within development. Hala presented two key messages of the guide. Firstly, the cultural use of a development should not be imitated – it needs to respond to the site and all its stakeholders. Secondly, cultural engagement must be rooted in projects from the start.

Keynote speaker Fatoş Üstek, director of the Liverpool Biennial, started off her keynote speech by stressing the importance of a sense of belonging in cities as a key factor to help cities thrive. Culture can help to build a sense of belonging and the cities that most successfully build a sense of belonging are unique, authentic, inspiring, innovative and offer a sense of agency. Fatoş reflected on three inspiring projects from Art Night, a one-night festival of contemporary art, performance, music and architecture, that were important in evaluating and bringing forward information from London.

Melanie Manchot’s “Dance” (All Night, London) in 2017 is a collective dance performance that looked at the notion of agency and its significance. “Bridging Home” (London, 2018) by Korean artist Do Ho Suh, represents authenticity: it is site-specific, provocative and unexpected. Lawrence Lek’s work “Play Station” is site-responsive, speculative and playful. Taking place in a futuristic version of the White Chapel Building that houses an imaginative corporation, it is an innovative participation-based artwork that envisions the future of London in 2037 in which AI and robots have taken over. On a finishing note, Fatoş remarked that the success of projects is only possible with openness, commitment and a willingness to take risks from everyone involved.

View Fatoş’s slides

For the panel discussion, Hala was joined by Fatoş Üstek, Rachael Roe from the Greater London Authority, Sherry Dobin from Futurecity, and Simon Silver from Derwent London Plc. When talking about his company’s experience of integrating arts and culture into their buildings, Simon emphasised the interlinked nature of art and architecture. In his view, working with architects and artists fostered a joyful experience, especially when you get a good result that makes people’s day to day more enjoyable. Furthermore, he found that commissioning for Derwent’s developments to be far more rewarding and meaningful than just buying some art. He also accredited Westminster Council for encouraging Derwent to include a theatre in their mixed-use development Soho Place.

Regarding the definition of typologies in the context of culture in development, Rachael commented that the GLA divided the Cultural Infrastructure Plan into two categories: cultural production and cultural consumption. In line with Rachael’s definition, Sherry laid out the five typologies used in the guide: what objects and artworks will be used, cultural infrastructure and cultural production, cultural consumption, temporary exhibitions, and cultural activities and events. The purpose of these clusters is to help developers figure out what kind of cultural engagement they want.

Working with various built environment professionals may prove to be a challenging process. Fatoş commented that as cities transform, finding the right space is a challenge. However, this change should be embraced. Additionally, is it not enough to focus on short-term gains – building for the futures requires more. Rachael highlighted that while creative industries are among the fastest growing in London, we have been rapidly losing artist studios and music venues. The impetus for the cultural infrastructure plan has been to protect and support them.

Further topics discussed included the question of which stakeholders should be involved when. The guide, Sherry explained, can aid in understanding who these stakeholders might be. To create meaningful partnerships requires understanding what each partner can contribute and how they can benefit. There is also a need to understand how community stakeholders can have a meaningful role that makes the most of their knowledge when involving them in the process.

Finally, the panel discussed the measurement of success. Sherry commented that it is crucial to be honest about what you want to achieve. This allows for more challenges to be set out and a part of the artistic process is to deconstruct and to ask questions. Although Fatoş questioned the viability of numbers, she stressed their importance in understanding scale, and measuring trace and impact.

Artists as stakeholders and whether the long-term revolution in art is helping the bottom line of developers was discussed in the Q&A session. Simon remarked that if developers succeed with an artwork and the place becomes more popular, in some way it will add value to the building.  Yet, this is not the motivating factor. Instead, it is to create something beautiful.

Words by Mona Ivinskis- Junior Marketing Officer, PLP Architecture