Giant noodles? It’s a taste of city’s street art
Creative public projects part of a growing push to beautify Auckland
Giant noodles hanging from a pair of chopsticks, an interactive projection of a Chinese ink wash landscape and little bronze cartoon-like statues are among visual displays popping up on the Auckland streetscape.
The mixture of street art — some of it permanent and some temporary — is part of a growing push to beautify our streetscape and give it a sense of local and cultural identity.
Advocates for art in the public domain say it adds cultural and economic value to the city, attracting visitors and revitalising public spaces.
Albert-Eden Local Board chairman Peter Haynes said public art had a dual focus of improving a street’s appeal and giving locals a “sense of place”. He said it had the potential to support economic development, create jobs, attract visitors and create a sense of identity and place.
This was certainly the story in Vienna, ranked second in Monocle magazine’s Quality of Life Survey 2015, which had, since its historic centre was labelled a Unesco heritage site in 2001, put a greater focus on enhancing its urban space around the wider city.
As Johannes Suitner, a postdoctoral researcher in urban studies at the Vienna Univers- Denmark The Scandinavian country of just over 5.6 million people, with its old-fashioned charm and chic modern developments, frequently ranks highly in quality-of-life surveys. According to the Sovereign Wellbeing Index 2015, Denmark was first in terms of social connectedness. On average over the past 40 years, happiness levels in Denmark have remained at 8/10. In a Happiness Research Institute report titled Happy Danes, good social relations and social cohesiveness were said to be key factors. High levels of trust, relative security within the welfare state, relatively high levels of prosperity, flexible working conditions, good work-life balance, living locally, high levels of involvement in voluntary work and greater democratic rights were other contributing factors towards making the country a happy place to live. Vienna The Austrian city of Vienna has ranked second in Monocle magazine’s Quality of Life Survey 2015. The famous city had its historic centre labelled a Unesco heritage site in 2001 and has put a greater focus on enhancing its urban space around the wider city. Works of art are seen not just in museums and galleries, but as sculptures and installations creating stimulating and attractive public spaces. ity of Technology, said in his book Imagineering Cultural Vienna, there has been a growing realisation of the role culture plays in revitalising a city.
“It is thus not surprising that within the last years both departments and the Fund for Art in Public Space have put a noticeable focus on pioneering artistry and creating projects that deal with urban development and regeneration of areas of the city.”
In Auckland, the AlbertEden board has, with local Montreal The predominantly Frenchspeaking Canadian city, which frequently ranks highly as one of the most liveable cities, has extensive walking and bike paths that wind through many of the city’s natural, historic and entertainment hot-spots. An underground pedestrian network links boutiques, major hotels, restaurants, universities, office buildings and city attractions with 32km of passageways used by more than 500,000 people daily. The central city boasts a mix of soaring skyscrapers and heritage buildings and the bohemian neighbourhood of the Plateau Mont-Royal. Its creative approach to infrastructure has earned it the accolade of a Unesco City of Design. businesses, enabled art works to be installed along Dominion Rd in a project titled The People’s Dominion.
“These works . . . acquit themselves wonderfully on all counts,” Mr Haynes said. “They also inspire a smile, a reflection, a host of reactions from those who view them.”
Council arts and culture manager Kaye Glamuzina said such community art was enabled in large part by increased council focus on art in the public space.