17 Aug 2017
Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Felice Varini design Hull public pavilion for UK City of Culture 2017
BY Kim Megson
Swiss artist Felice Varini and the Chilean architecture practice Pezo von Ellrichshausen have been commissioned to design an ambitious temporary outdoor structure in the historic heart of Hull, UK.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Hull UK City of Culture 2017 have commissioned the duo as part of the Hull 2017 'Look Up' programme of public art installations intended to bring new life to public spaces across the city.
The pavilion, called A Hall for Hull, will transform Trinity Square with sixteen galvanized steel columns arranged in a grid formation in front of Hull Minister, highlight the symmetry of the church’s facade.
In a design statement, RIBA said: “Visitors to the installation will be able to inhabit each of the six-metre-high columns and experience varying light conditions created by perforations in the steel skin.
“The rigid geometry of the columns will be carefully distorted and redefined by the artwork of Varini, challenging perceptions of perspective and scale in this particular public setting.”
The structure will launch on 1 October 2017, as part of the fourth season of Hull's City of Culture year. It is the latest addition to the square, which has benefited from a £25m public realm improvements programme launched by Hull City Council.
Describing why the design duo were chosen ahead of seventeen others in an invited international competition for the scheme, Marie Bak Mortensen, RIBA Head of Exhibitions, said: “Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Felice Varini have developed an exceptional proposal; one where Varini’s abstracted art applied to architectural space aligns with Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s practice of monumental architecture - carefully considered to the scale of Hull Minster and its surrounding square.
“A Hall for Hull effortlessly fulfils the commission’s aim to push the boundaries of how we observe art, architecture and public spaces and to facilitate unique experiences for residents and newcomers to the city.”
Other installations commissioned for the ‘Look Up’ programme include a 75m-long (250ft) rotor blade that artist Nayan Kulkarni temporarily placed in Hull’s Queen Victoria Square back in January.
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