Client: The Parkland Companies

Overview

“New Life” features three contemporary sculptural façades that create a visually dynamic dialogue between the building and the street. Artist Lucy Keshavarz was selected to design a permanent site-specific public art project as part of a new four-story residential rental development in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. For this project, Lucy used glass mosaic tiles, powder coated aluminum, native stone boulders and created sculpted glazed tiles – classic materials selected to evoke nature’s elements and for their ability to complement the surrounding architecture and environment. Lucy was inspired by the Tree of Life, an ancient and widely used motif that celebrates the interconnectedness of all living things. “New Life” creates artistic focal points for urban living and reminds us of our connection to the natural world.

Goals

The project is in an area of West Palm Beach experiencing infill-building projects. This is very good for the neighborhood however, the lots surrounding this new residential area are open grass fields with views of the Intracoastal and waiting for development. It was challenging to create work that would have relevance now and into the future. The residential building itself is contemporary with straight angles with a footprint that takes up most of the block giving little opportunity for softening the feel with anything organic in nature. Another issue for the developer was the request by city planners to create facades that help bring the multi-story building down to the pedestrian level. An issue easily seen in the photographs was a lack of space between to building and the property line. By integrating art with curving organic lines onto the walls of the building the artist helped remedy the lack of space and brought the organic contrast needed. In addition, by creating sculptural elements that appear to be coming in and out of ground and building, Lucy created a playful feeing that brought more depth to the space and engages at the pedestrian level.