In an attempt to brighten up city spaces, Sea Point residents in Cape Town on Monday welcomed an art-filled pedestrian crossing.
Located on the main road outside artem centre near Sea Point High School, the artwork was created by local artist Al Luke and is titled Recollection.
Luke shared that from a young age, Sea Point has always been a destination where he would go with his family to get close to the ocean, run free in the park and skate as far as his legs would carry him.
Luke said: “In this work, I have tried to capture a snapshot of Sea Point I know and love with the use of bold color and linework. This piece is dedicated to the beautiful people of Cape Town for always inspiring me.”
Local property developer Blok initiated the project, which was executed in collaboration with urbanism practice and consultancy Our Future Cities (OFC).
Jacques van Embden, Blok CEO, said: “The concept is to improve development within cities to reimagine accessibility and safety as more and more people make the move to live in urban areas.
“The idea of future cities that merge sustainable economic development with connected urban living to shape the next generation’s way of life is not unique to Cape Town.”
Recently, a campaign was used to relaunch the creative, retail, and hospitality sectors as they were disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, where a similar transformation project consisting of 18 pedestrian crossings was commissioned by the City of London as part of the mayor of London’s Let’s Do London tourism campaign.
Similar projects have been undertaken in other cities including Milan and Washington DC, where pedestrian-crossing artwork has been used to create safer and more vibrant streets.
Urban practitioner and founding director of OFC, Rashiq Fatar, said: “For our streets to be reimagined and reclaimed as infrastructure for people rather than just cars, we need provocative and joyful initiatives like this one.
“We have high hopes that this initiative will sow the seeds that will speak to the larger-scale shifts that are necessary for our cities to become more vibrant and sustainable.”
Embden added: “There’s a deep hunger for these types of projects in every city.”
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