The Netherlands do it right: public art in institutionalized spaces

Every project on this site is cause for celebration.

Could we take such care with our public spaces in Canada and fund artists to create such sensitive interactions?

I would like that kind of commission.

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Daylight and sunlight are absorbed by color filters and reflective material that are subsequently projected onto an opal screen. These images are constantly changing in accordance with the position of the sun, the time of day and the season. In addition to these light spaces, Joost van Santen designed autonomous light sculptures. The design he made for the Verpleeghuis Leenderhof (nursing home) came into being through close collaboration with the architect, Hans Boots. Joost van Santen’s ‘light installation’ is spread out over the entire building in keeping with the building’s varying cubic volumes. In this way he transformed the hallway into a long illuminated street in which the light is absorbed from above by a screen attached to the ceiling. In contrast to these rather introverted images of the illuminated street is a second small opening in the roof that provides exuberant light. When the sun shines, bright spectrum colors appear on the elevator shaft creating interplay with the daylight, which, in turn, causes the reflections and the colored glass to resemble a moving ‘painting’. (NW)