Public art strategy
The University is keen to see art elements integrated into the building fabric in order to create permanent works which investigate and promote the development of the University.
This approach also provides the opportunity to celebrate art in its physical form as a key feature of the University estate and fulfils a key criterion of the Bristol City Council Public Art Strategy to provide art which is “site specific and relates to the context of a particular site or location”.
We have therefore worked to develop proposals which ensure that art becomes an integrated element of the architectural and landscape design.
A Voronoi diagram creates a dynamic screen to the façade of the new atrium. This screen performs both aesthetic and conceptual functions as well as providing shading to the south-facing atrium.
In the southern courtyard, the design of the paving layout draws on the work of the Nobel Prize-winning Bristol-born mathematician Paul Dirac (1902 - 1984).
The incorporation of public art in the building can be read as both art and design; it invites interaction and discussion and acts as a stimulus for further inquiry as well as being an educational resource for the School.
The physical reality of the patterns reflects the academic interests of the occupants of the building and, in a broader sense, the academic traditions of the wider University.
