A Hall for Hull with
‘Trois Points de Vue’ – a joint
commission from The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Hull UK
City of Culture 2017 – has been unveiled to the public.
The monumental
temporary installation has transformed Trinity Square with sixteen galvanized
steel columns arranged in a grid formation in front of Hull Minster to form a
new outdoor ‘room’ for the city.
Chile-based architects Pezo von Ellrichshausen
have collaborated with Swiss artist Felice Varini to create the ambitious
structure which responds to the historic heart of Hull and will remain in place until 11 November 2017. It has been
commissioned to encourage local people to see their city in new and memorable
ways and to become a focal point for national and international tourists.
Photograph: Thomas Arran
The installation
will provide visitors with a range of different experiences as they enter each
of the six-metre-high columns, open to the sky. Perforations across the
columns’ frosted-like steel skin creates a delicate interplay of light and
shadow across the interiors of each inhabited space. Visual and physical
contradictions merge as visitors first encounter a series of imposing, static
steel columns from a distance but as they move closer the perforations create
as feeling of lightness.
The playful optical illusions continue with
the artwork applied by international acclaimed artist Felice Varini. Through
his practice of op-art, Varini has created three hand-drawn, delicate artworks
across the columns that distort and redefine the otherwise rigid geometry of
their solid arrangement, challenging perceptions of perspective and scale in
this particular public setting. Each artwork aligns from a different viewpoint
across Trinity Square, encouraging visitors to meander through the set of columns,
leaving the view of the central axis of the church’s
nave untouched.
While the Minster is
undergoing extensive renovation work, A Hall
for Hull will be brought into active use by the church to host
performances, relocating their choir to the outside of the Grade I Listed
minster, dating back to 1300. However, A Hall
for Hull is a new city room for everyone. It is designed with the hope
that residents and community groups within and beyond Hull will activate the
space for multiple purposes beyond the imagination of the artists. The
steel was galvanised by Hull company Wedge Group, ensuring the local community
are involved in a variety of different ways.
Although both Pezo von Ellrichshausen
and Felice Varini have previously exhibited in London, this is the first time
they have developed an artwork jointly. The practice of Pezo von Ellrichshausen
that oscillates between art and architecture, embedded in land-art and often
located in rural conditions, forms a complimentary relationship with Varini’s
op-art practice with the majority of his artworks situated within and upon the
urban fabric. This combination here serves to redefine and activate multiple perspectives
of a historically-charged public square through a series of experiences as
visitors walk around the installation.
Architects Mauricio Pezo & Sofia von
Ellrichshausen said: “This
installation forms a temporary hypostyle room without a roof, with massive but
almost immaterial columns barely open to the sky and to the immediate
surroundings. The empty stone-paved square is challenged by the size and
disposition of a regular open grid and each column (two metres wide and six
metres high) is in fact an inhabitable room with a single entrance pointed to a
different direction. The silent vibration of glimmering lights and shadows,
together with the very indifference of the grid, is altered by three delicate
motives drawn in the air by Swiss artist Felice Varini, which can only be seen
towards precise vanishing points.”
The Vicar of Hull Minster, the Rev Canon Dr Neal
Barnes, said: “This striking, interactive art installation, which is already
getting people talking, will be a very different sight and experience and is
sure to bring thousands of visitors into the heart of the Old Town. We’re
certainly looking forward to welcoming visitors drawn by this spectacular
installation through the doors of the Minster to enjoy more magnificent sights
and see the exciting transformation taking place under our development project.
A Hall for Hull illustrates the opportunities presented by the
creation of a stunning, uninterrupted public space in Trinity Square, reuniting
the church and the city. Trinity Square is now the perfect place for a work of
this scale which promotes Hull as an ambitious, creative city, emboldened by
City of Culture.”
The project,
supported by the British Council, has been developed through an invited
competition for an architectural and artistic collaboration, with a brief to
create a temporary intervention designed specifically for the square. Hull 2017
and RIBA have been working closely with Hull Minster to develop the project.
The built structure opened on 2 October 2017, as part of the fourth season of
Hull's City of Culture year, entitled 'Tell the World'.
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. I look forward to seeing this installation
unfold in-situ as RIBA takes its programme outside its dedicated gallery spaces
in London and Liverpool.”
Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Felice Varini were
chosen from a pool of eighteen outstanding, emerging and established architects
practising in the UK and internationally. Trinity Square has benefited from
Hull City Council's £25 million public realm improvements programme. This latest
transformation will build on the drive to bring new life to this historic part
of the city.
Sam Hunt, Executive
Producer, Hull 2017, said: "The Hull 2017 Look Up programme is about
making people see and experience this amazing city in new and exciting ways. A Hall for Hull will certainly do that,
creating a new way of looking at and crossing Trinity Square and observing Hull
Minster. It is helping kick off our fourth season and we hope that it will
encourage even more people, both residents and visitors, to head to this key
destination in the heart of the city."
The selected
co-commission, sponsored by Wedge Galvanising, is intended to offer new and
memorable experiences that capture the excitement in Hull during 2017. A Hall for Hull is part of ‘Look Up’, a Hull
2017 curated programme of temporary installations in public places and spaces
around the city.
