New Architecture & Public Art: What’s the Best Approach?

It is common knowledge that contemporary art and culture contribute significantly to the ubiquitous pursuit of ‘happy and healthy’ megacities in the 21st century. There are, however, few remarkable examples of public art, which fundamentally bring new perspective, improve the experience and help build the legacy of the surrounding new architecture.

Public artworks supporting major regeneration projects tend to fall in to two categories:

1. A free-standing sculpture made from a durable and precious material (e.g. bronze or marble), which signposts the development and makes a long-term investment in the object and its setting.
2. A digital installation, which may be static or interactive as a two-dimensional surface or as a three-dimensional object, but depreciates in value as the technology becomes outdated and the object demands ongoing maintenance.

Contrary to these practices, however, the ultimate quest is to situate a contemporary artwork within the DNA of a building, and ask the pertinent question:

What is the right balance between iconic architecture and new public art?

Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s landmark building at Paddington Square, London – recently nominated for RIBA’s prestigious 2026 Sterling Prize – is the setting of such an installation by Pae White. It is one of three permanent public artworks curated by Lacuna and represents a major investment in the city’s public realm by site developer Great Western Developments and development manager Sellar Places.

Somethinging (2025) is a large experiential sculpture, suspended above the escalators at the centre of a new 14-storey building. The elegant static work consists of two spirals inspired by dragon-fly wings, which visually converse but never intersect. It is constructed from over 600 unique aluminium units, custom-painted and joined to create an evocative transparent artwork, which floats across four levels of shops, restaurants and pedestrian viewing corridors. Visible from key vantage points in and outside the building, the artwork frames the architecture at street level, providing access to the London Underground station below and opening on to the large piazza, which connects to Paddington Station next door.

The work’s etherial quality and bespoke structural engineering, which at times seems barely visible, despite being designed to withstand considerable wind pressure, act as a joyful and strategic framing device to the architecture. As visitors pass through the cube-like building, observing the artwork from a moving escalator below, at eye-level along the balcony or from the glass lift; the installation continually transforms, giving the impression that it is animated. In reality, the changing perceptions of shape and colour are solely in the eye of the viewer and reflects one’s own journey through the building.

The interaction between RPBW’s rational architecture and White’s emotive installation strike a perfect balance of contrast and compliment, exemplifying that iconic architecture can be matched, in both ambition and beauty, by visionary new public art.

The Paddington Square Public Art Programme was developed in the framework of Section 106: a compulsory urban planning requirement in the UK, which supports the realisation of new public artworks. Curated by Lacuna, it was produced in collaboration with the client group, St. Mary’s Hospital, local businesses and residential associations, and with strong engagement from Westminster City Council.

Lacuna’s curatorial vision for The Paddington Square Public Art Programme was to commission new site-specific artworks by critically acclaimed contemporary artists with no prior permanent projects in London’s built environment. Somethinging is White’s first public realm commission in London and one of three new permanent public artworks. It was developed from an invited-competition curated by Lacuna and selected by an independent jury.

Stay tuned for more Reflections on the PSQ Public Art Programme.

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SOMETHINGING, 2024
Custom aluminium and paint
Measurements vary

Artwork by Pae White
Permanent Public Art Commission
Paddington Square, London

Commissioned by Great Western Developments
Curated by Lacuna

Fabrication: The Whitewall Company
Engineering: Price and Myers
Installation: M-Tec Fine Art

Produced with assistance from Greengrassi, London

PADDINGTON SQUARE, LONDON
Urban Development by Great Western Developments
Masterplan and Architecture by Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Public Art by Lacuna

AJN worked as associate curator on the project.