Art for Places

Bianchini e Lusiardi associati

Water and land, urban communities and natural environment, a canal with a great past and new future - for Italian architects Bianchini e Lusiardi associati, these dualisms led to a design that was a symbolic link between two sides of the same reality. They also wanted the design to be a very practical and flexible structure, which can naturally adapt itself to different places and situations, acting somewhat like a living organism.

They decided to give this organism an almost-organic shape. A number of articulated segments house the main functions, and are hinged together to allow four different configurations, depending on the size and shape of the site.

They were intrigued by the brief to design an artwork that could move to different sites, yet at the same time needs to be strongly related to the Liverpool-Leeds canal, without conceiving it as something that can be moved through the canal itself. To answer this, Bianchini e Lusiardi associati designed a structure that can be "compacted" and stored on a barge to be moved freely along the canal. This led them naturally to incorporate the barge into the design, enabling them to design an object standing both on land and on water.

The structure is conceived to be environmental-friendly, it is designed to be fully disassembled and recyclable at the end of its life. It also incorporates a stand-alone photovoltaic system, which provides power both for the equipment and for the night lighting system.

Previous | Next