New to this website? Register or Login to take part in this years Cardiff Design Festival.
User login
Feeling left out?
Cardiff Design Festival
An annual celebration of Design and provides a showcase of Design talent in Wales. During October we host a programme of Design related events that inform, inspire and provoke.
Flickr
Why not take part in our Flickr Group, images submitted will be selected as background imagery on this website.
‘Animal Wall’ A site Specific Ecological Artwork
Submitted by emmaprice on 31 July, 2009 - 17:32
Design Agency:
Safle / Artist - Designer Gitta Gschwendtner
Client:
Charles Church & WYG Brief:
This commission is for an artist to create a work within Phase 6 (Court G) of the Century Wharf development. The incorporation of a public art scheme into the development is a condition of the planning permission and, as the Century Wharf scheme is a ‘gated community’, the artwork should be concentrated on the riverside walkway edge so that it is ‘available’ to the public. There may be scope, however, for associated works to be integrated within the development.
The work may carry themes in keeping with the history of the area, such as its rich maritime heritage, geographical location, geological characteristics, etc. The artist will be expected to work closely with Safle , Charles Church Wales, WYG Planning, the local planning authority and the contractor, Opco, on the delivery of project.
Primary site
Length of riverside walkway fronting Century Wharf Phase 6 (this could be a form / sculptural element / sculpture that could traverse the wall adjacent to river and development site (courtyard) such as a viewing deck).
Secondary site
Seating in landscaped garden area (podium garden) possibly integrated into design or into the wall design (which may extend over the wall and into the podium gardens).
Gitta was chosen from a shirt ist of artists after interview. The panel were extremely impressed with her vision in both product design and her innovative approach to the brief.
Artist Gitta Gschwendtner
Born in Germany in 1972, Gitta Gschwendtner moved to London in the early nineties to study design at Central Saint Martins, Kingston University, and the Royal College of Art. Following graduation from the RCA furniture MA in 1998 she set up her independent design studio for furniture, interior design, exhibition design and public art projects for cultural, arts and corporate clients. Gitta Gschwendtner’s studio focuses on conceptually rigorous, visually intriguing, functional designs across several disciplines.
The result:
‘Animal Wall’, a site-specific ecological artwork by artist Gitta Gschwendtner. ‘Animal Wall’ is part of a 50-meter long wall, running along the southern edge of ‘Strata’, a new residential development in Century Wharf, Cardiff Bay. It can be accessed via the riverside walk leading from Clarence Road towards the City Centre.
The environmental impact of Cardiff Bay’s extensive development is an ongoing concern and various measures have been taken to mitigate this. The approach taken for this artwork is to assist wildlife in the area and encourage further habitation. The new housing development of Century Wharf which provides approximately 1000 new apartments and houses; Gschwendtner’s design for the ’Animal Wall’ will match this with about 1000 nest boxes for different bird and bat species, integrated into the fabric of the wall separating this gated development from a public footpath. Through consultation with an ecologist, four different sized animal homes have been developed, which have been integrated in the custom made woodcrete cladding for the wall to provide an architecturally stunning and environmentally sensitive wall for Century Wharf. The animal wall also transcends the barrier between the private and the public, with the wildlife roaming freely between the two areas.
Artist Gitta Gschwendtner says: “Following the decline of the natural habitat in Cardiff Bay over the recent years I was very interested in exploring ways to introduce nesting places in my artwork for Century Wharf. I have loved the opportunity to match the number of flats created in the housing development with the number of bird and bat boxes in my design for the Animal Wall.”
Background photography Un Deg Tri