CODAaward winning public sculpture “Agent Crystalline,” 2019, by Marc Fornes/ THEVERYMANY, located next to the northwest police campus building in Edmonton. (courtesy CODAawards)
Three Canadian art and design installations – in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto – have won international CODAawards for commissioned art in public and private spaces. This year saw 374 entries from 19 countries, representing a total of more than $463 million in commission fees.
“The CODAawards provide us with a particularly remarkable series of projects, distinctive in theme and character, where designers demolish the barrier between their own stock in trade and the craft practiced by artists,” says Cindy Allen, a juror for the awards and editor-in-chief of Interior Design magazine.
“Trying to distinguish where design ends and art begins is simply an exercise in futility when artists become active contributors to the design of spaces.”
“Agent Crystalline” won in the institutional category. (courtesy CODAawards)
Agent Crystalline, a gigantic public sculpture next to Edmonton's northwest police campus building, won in the institutional category. The artist, Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY, designed the structure with movement in mind. Its triangular form, wrapped in undulating orange stripes, is dynamic. The piece was commissioned by the Edmonton Arts Council and was completed in 2019.
“In a strong, out-reaching stance, this installation seems to be either in conversation or dancing with the adjacent building,” says Ilene Shaw, an awards juror and the founding producer of Design Pavilion in New York. “To me, this is a joyous melding of architecture and art.”
Vancouver's CODAaward winning public sculpture “Sea Change,” 2020, was designed by Jill Anholt with help from lighting designers and metal fabricators. (courtesy CODAawards)
Sea Change, an interactive light wall in Vancouver, won in the transportation category. The piece was designed by Jill Anholt, with lighting design by Janelle Drouet, Yuliya Savelyeva and Arup Lighting design. The metal fabrication and installation was done by Richard Thacker Works. The piece was finished in 2020.
Commissioned by the North Vancouver Public Art Program and Polygon Promenade, the work celebrates the waterfront and lights up a formerly dark underpass with blue-green waves triggered by the movement of passersby.
“A beautiful and transformative way to bring light to a location that needed it,” says awards juror and Scottsdale public art director Kim Boganey.
YU Seafood restaurant in Toronto's Yorkdale mall won in the people's choice category. (courtesy CODAawards)
Toronto's YU Seafood restaurant in Yorkdale Mall was one of two winners in the people's choice category. The design incorporates coral-shaped fixtures, undulating wood and a school of laser cut steel fish. Commissioned by YU Seafood, the project was designed by Bennett Lo and Sonia Kim, of Dialogue 38 Inc., and was finished in 2020.
Source: CODAawards