HOW ART ENHANCES ARCHITECTURE

The relationship between art and architecture is one that has fascinated designers and artists for centuries. The balance can be hard to get right, and the process can be a challenging one. In this insight article, Erfan Tajik discusses how art can be used to enhance architecture to create visually stunning environments.

“ ART NEEDS AN APPROPRIATE BUILT ENVIRONMENT WITHIN WHICH IT CAN BE SHOWCASED TO GREATEST EFFECT, WHILE ARCHITECTURE NEEDS ART TO TURN BRICKS, STEEL AND CONCRETE INTO A SPACE IN WHICH PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE, TO LEARN, TO SHOP AND TO WORK. ”

Art-chitecture

There has been debate for decades about whether architecture is art – with some passionately arguing that architecture is a form of self-expression and therefore an art form, and others decrying the notion, viewing it as a form of egotism which leads to ‘starchitect’ designs being parachuted into place without reference to social and geographic context or appropriateness.

If architecture is not art, and there’s a good argument to the contrary when one considers striking buildings such as the Baku Entertainment Centre in Azerbaijan or NOI Techpark in Bolzano, Italy, there is certainly a place for art within the architectural form. For thousands of years, buildings and spaces have been transformed by the way in which art was used within them – often resulting in a fusion which created spaces which were beautiful, awe-inspiring, or spiritually uplifting, depending on the intentions of the client and the architect.

The fusion of art and architecture can transcend the sum of its parts, but can also go incredibly wrong. Getting the balance right is, it can be argued, an art form in itself. The building designer has to have the skill and creative talent to envisage what the end result will be and how it will be interpreted by the people who see it.

Creating a successful blend

Having worked on several projects where the incorporation of art was a key design feature, I and my colleagues at Chapman Taylor have experience and insight into what makes a successful blend. Indeed, the benefits of using art strategically and to maximum effect was evident to our designers over 50 years ago, as exemplified by the horse and rider statue we commissioned from Dame Elizabeth Frink to sit in front of our Hotel Bristol project on London's Piccadilly. The famous and listed Pavilion building at Piccadilly Circus, redesigned and expanded by us in 1988, also incorporated works by prominent contemporary artists to enliven the building's original character.

More recently, the 42 Maslak mixed-use development in Istanbul has made the incorporation of artworks within the architecture a signature feature of the scheme, which is themed as ‘Artful Living’.

Art was integral from the outset with 42 Maslak, and that meant that we, as architects, designed the scheme with that in mind. The ‘Artful Living’ concept from developer Bay Insaat was based on the notion of art as an essential component of society, and this theme was incorporated from conception to completion. There is an art gallery included, and even the construction vehicles were individually painted, becoming working pieces of art. It has culminated in a revolutionary project where people eat, sleep, live and socialise within a creative environment they can call their own.