When a landowner decides they would like large-scaled art in a project, there is no Best Buy® equivalent where you can browse and purchase art pieces to install in a landscape. The traditional public art process often involves an extended timeframe in which a citizen public art board commissions artwork from artists after a site and building have already been built. Art can lend authenticity and gravitas to a space, but private developers need a process and timeframe that is more integrated into the site. Studio Outside has had the privilege to work closely with artists on several exciting projects that synthesize site and art.
Fiori On Vitruvian Park
Addison, Texas
Fiori, the flagship luxury anchor of Vitruvian Park, had a vision of bespoke artwork elevating the experience of residences living in its 390 units. The art master plan across the whole site included a large format sculptural piece in the entry roundabout. Since Fiori is Italian for flower, Laura Abrams, the selected artist, proposed a massive corten flower that would capture the essence of the project from the moment visitors arrived.
However, Abrams had never done a project of this scale and it was well beyond the capacity of the foundry next to her home studio. Studio Outside guided the search for an inspired collaborator and made the connection with Baldwin Metals, a foundry that understood the level of craft required.
In addition, Studio Outside brought in the distinguished structural engineering firm Datum Engineers, who are known for taking on complex projects beyond the skillset of most engineers. The torque of the 27’ steel flowers narrowing down to a single point where the petals connect to the base of the flower is immense, but Datum Engineers was able to provide the structural analysis to support the whim and grace of the design. As a final gift of the collaboration together, Baldwin Metals took Abram’s signature and artfully welded a stainless steel copy of it onto one of the petals.
Fiori on Vitruvian Park Team
Client: UDR, Artist: Laura Abrams, Structural: Ponce-Fuess Engineering, Architect: GFF Architects, Landscape: Studio Outside, Structural: Datum Engineers, Lighting: Scott Oldner Lighting Design, Contractor: Andres Construction, Metal Fabrication: Baldwin Metals, sO Team: Chip Impastato & Brad Goodman.
Bank OZK
Little Rock, Arkansas
As a new 44-acre corporate campus in Little Rock, Bank OZK was wrapping up design development when the owner saw an opportunity to incorporate some sizable art pieces throughout the site to give a sense of distinctiveness not only as a place where employees would be proud to work, but as a space to be valued by the surrounding community.
The formal entry sequence supported the idea of a truly substantial piece, which found its match in Pro Terra Et Natura, a pair of bronze water spirits or angels at a maximum height of 40’ that represent Mother Earth and Nature.
The owner had full confidence in what was being purchased through Halcyon Gallery in London as the procurement was for the design of the piece and one had already been installed in Shanghai. As part of including the piece within the site, Studio Outside shifted the east/west access road further south to expand the entry plaza and motor court and worked towards a solution with the civil engineer to accommodate fire lane requirements.
It would have been easy to have the water spirits rise out of landscape planting. However, the owner recognized that would not be in keeping with the original intent of the pieces. Halcyon Gallery felt there had been a missed opportunity with the fountain basin in Shanghai as the complex curves inspired by leaves were not well conveyed with smaller stone tiles over concrete. The artist Wu Ching Ju proposed a highly organic form for the fountain basin with the Little Rock installation based on apple blossoms. Studio Outside was able to translate the complex and abstract shape into a thick stainless steel edging that could withstand vehicular traffic in the motor court, but maintain a sense of purity and simplicity.
As bronze sculptures and water must stay physically separated, there had to be some interpretation on the water spirits rising from the water. The previous iteration placed the sculptures on an exposed concrete plinth that rose out of the water with no sense of magic for the viewer. With close work between Price Myers, the sculpture’s structural engineer in London, Halcyon Gallery, Datum Engineering, and the architect Polk Stanley Wilcox, Studio Outside was able to facilitate a solution in which the concrete is recessed past the shadow line so that the figures perceivably hover over the water.
These subtle details of craft with in-depth technical and artistic collaboration respectfully integrate the fine art of an artist into the site for a seamless and unforgettable experience. Ultimately, that unification elicits the greatest value from the art for the lived experience of people within the space.
Bank OZK Team
Client: Bank OZK, Gallery: Halcyon Gallery, Artist: Wu Ching Ju, Sculpture Structural: Price Myers, Architect: Polk Stanley Wilcox, Landscape: Studio Outside, Structural: Datum Engineers, Lighting: ARUP, Fountain Designer: Fountain Technologies, Contractor: CDI Contractors, sO Team: Chip Impastato, Lisa Casey, Josh Emerson, Charlie Pruitt, and Lu Zhou.