Pyramids not art, council says
Just like beauty, sometimes art is in the eye of the beholder.
That was the case when the developer of two, 11-story office towers and a parking garage on Kyoto Gardens Drive argued that rooftop pyramids should count toward the city’s requirement he spend at least $400,000, or 1 percent of construction costs, on public art.
Palm Beach Gardens Planning & Zoning Director Natalie Crowley countered the pyramids should be considered an architectural element of the buildings, not art. The city’s Art in Public Places board would ordinarily issue a recommendation to the City Council but couldn’t reach a consensus on the matter, either, when it debated the issue in June.
Nader Salour, speaking on behalf of Cypress Realty of Florida, said the pyramids created from galvanized steel tubes painted white should count as art because they serve no real function. The pyramids will each be about 58 feet high and 58 feet wide, he said.
“It doesn’t hold the building up. It doesn’t keep the rain out,” he said. “It’s just sitting there.”
Salour said the rooftop pyramids are preferable because a 55-foot landscape buffer Sarah Peters surrounding the project at PGA Boulevard and Alternate A1A would prevent passersby from seeing art at eye level. The combined cost of the pyramids is $1.73 million, greater than the minimum requirement, Salour said.
Robert M. Swedroe, a Miami artist and architect, drew inspiration for the pyramids from similar buildings he designed in Miami Beach, the Blue Diamond and Green Diamond. Photos show those condo towers have nearly identical pyramid tops to the Palm Beach Gardens offices.
Crowley said it’s an issue that the pyramids are not unique. Palm Beach Gardens staff called Miami Beach, and the pyramids did not count toward the art requirement there.
Swedroe, who has both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Architecture degree, is primarily a collage artist based on information the developer submitted to the city, Crowley said.
The pyramids are an intrinsic part of the Gardens towers’ architecture, Crowley said. A 10-year-old city ordinance prevents architectural elements from counting as art.
The City Council unanimously voted to deny the developer’s request to count the pyramids as art.
Vice Mayor Eric Jablin cited the similar buildings Miami in his rationale.
“First of all, I don’t believe this is a piece of art. The reason I don’t believe this is a piece of art is because it was inspired by two buildings in Miami the applicant admired and wanted to replicate,” he said.
Mayor Marcie Tinsley said art is part of what makes the city special, using as an example the pockets of art sprinkled throughout the strip of shops and restaurants known as PGA Commons.
“We strive for something a little bit more special than might occur somewhere else in the county. That’s the reason why people love it here,” Tinsley told Salour.
Salour had asked at the beginning of the hearing for the item to be postponed. He said he wanted a chance to plead his case about why the pyramids should count as art in one-on-one meetings with council members.
Tinsley and Jablin, who cannot run in the March 14 election because of term limits, said the current council is most qualified to make a judgment on the art.
The City Council voted 3-2, with Councilwoman Maria Marino and Councilman Carl Woods dissenting, against the developer’s request to postpone a vote on the art.