The following is an interview between Public Art Fund (PAF) and Richard Woods (RW) whose exhibition wall and door and roof is currently on view at City Hall Park through September 2009.
PAF: Did City Hall's historic architecture and presence play into the design of wall and door and roof?
RW: The work riffs on the surrounding architectural context that such a prestigious building has.
PAF: Conceptually how do the two structures (security booths & lobby doors) relate to one another?
RW: The works are related through surface and re-surfacing, making flat graphic versions of real things.
PAF: How does your choice of materials relate to the ideas behind your works?
RW: As surface is important, the thinnest but strongest materials are chosen. The choice is a practical one.
PAF: Why did you choose "brick" to clad the security booths?
RW: In the UK the red brick style is a vernacular that is a very cheap way to build, it's also synonymous with 'Brownfield site' building (this means former industrial land which is cheap). I think this very 'red brick British style' import is interesting, also the sociological twist of the low rent style being imposed on such a prestigious location.
PAF: If you could temporally transform all of City Hall and City Hall Park, what would it look like?
RW: If we had extended the 'red-brick' motif throughout the City Hall site it would look like a vast 'Brownfield site' albeit in prestigious surroundings. The cartoon nature of the booth transformation draws the attention to the surrounding architecture within City Hall, if the transformation extended throughout City Hall, it would also highlight the fabulous mixture of architectural styles of the surrounding streets.
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