City to hide building sites with art in 2008

Sep 14 2007 Liza Williams Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S city centre buildings and streets are to be dressed in stunning artwork to celebrate Capital of Culture year.

The Daily Post today reveals the unique designs which will adorn landmark buildings as well as covering up building sites and derelict eyesores during 2008.

Stretching up to 90ft high, the vibrant “wraps’’ will tell the story of the city’s historic and cultural icons, with images of The Beatles, the Liver Birds, and the two cathedrals.

They will also pay homage to sporting heroes including Liverpool FC legend Bill Shankly, and to the city’s maritime heritage.

Among the sites already identified to be draped in the artworks are the Port of Liverpool building, where they will cover scaffolding erected during £20m renovation works to restore it to its former glory, and empty shops in front of Lime Street station.

Cultural leaders last night said the project would help millions of visitors to the city see building sites as a positive sign of renewal.

Yesterday, the city’s leading property developers were urged to adopt the designs for their building sites at a presentation in the FACT Centre.

It is understood many have already committed to the scheme, and Grosvenor, which is delivering the £1bn Liverpool One retail development in the heart of the city centre, is said to be “enthusiastic”.

It is hoped the designs, the first of which should be erected in the next few weeks, will also decorate municipal buildings - although details of precisely which ones are still being worked out.

The art pieces embrace five themes: music, art, maritime heritage, creativity, and people and sport. They are meant to look to the city’s future as well as celebrating its past.

They include uplifting words and phrases to describe the way the city wants to be seen from the outside, including: “faith”, “loved”, “The Pool of Life”, “iconic”, “passion”, and “A Winning Spirit”.

They will also be used on petal- shaped banners that will hang from 3,000 city lamp-posts. Jim Gill, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, which is a partner in the scheme, said last night: “Liverpool is a city which is undergoing fundamental and historic change in terms of its physical appearance “The artwork will help to ensure that visitors see building sites as a positive sign of renewal rather than as blots on the landscape.”

“The message we are conveying is that Liverpool has a rich and unique history and culture, it is a city which is changing for the better.”

Richard White, artistic director at Liverpool design company Finch, who illustrated the pieces, said: “It will almost look like the city has been painted – like somebody has splashed colour across it.”

“We wanted to keep the designs really creative and beautiful to look at to reflect the vibrancy of the city.

Yesterday, 50 representatives of the major development companies working in the city were invited to a presentation where the artwork was unveiled by the Liverpool Culture Company and Liverpool Vision.

One of the most high-profile buildings to be wrapped is the historic Port of Liverpool building, which is undergoing a major refurbishment by Downing Developments.

The restoration scheme involves major internal and external works to restore the Grade 2* listed landmark to its original glory and replace the existing roof with a new glass top.

Downing plans to use the new posters to dress those sides of the building clad in scaffolding during the refurbishment, which is not due to finish until 2009.

Downing director Ian Orton said: “It seems crucial to us that the public and private sectors work together in this way to ensure that we are collectively managing the appearance and feel of the city during 2008.

A number of other developers, including Bruntwood, have already committed to using the artwork on their buildings.

National regeneration agency English Partnerships will use the artwork to dress the empty shops outside Lime Street Station and will include the designs on screening once work starts on the new Lime Street Gateway.

Finch design captures essence of the city and her people

THE project to dress the city has been almost a year in the making and has involved a firm of international consultants, and a Liverpool design agency.

Last November, the Culture Company hired consultancy firm SLS, whose past clients include the Tour de France, Special Olympics and Ryder Cup, to carry out an investigation into ways of transforming the appearance of the city.

The Culture Company then took their idea to Liverpool design and advertising agency Finch and asked them to come up with a set of designs which would both reflect Liverpool’s past and celebrate its present.

Finch managing director Tim Crutchley said: “We wanted to capture a look and feel that captured the essence of the people, the place and the heritage.”