KUNSHAN RAIL
Kunshan, China
ARTIST UAP Studio, Matthew Tobin
ARTWORK Cloud Lake / Captured Sky
CLIENT Kunshan Urban Planning Department
DESIGN UAP Studio
YEAR 2009
UAP Principal Matthew Tobin developed this iconic artwork concept for Kunshan’s Changjiang Road, adjacent to the elevated High Speed Rail connection between Shanghai and Beijing.
Cloud Lake / Captured Sky takes the natural beauty from the reflections of Kunshan’s famous still-water lakes and suspends it between the rail and road commuters. Viewing from above, the swiftly moving rail users glimpse the sense of the clouds reflected in a lakes’ surface, while the pedestrians and vehicles below experience a sense of the sky plucked from above and tethered to the ground.
The artwork measures 40m in diameter and is to be realized in stainless steel rope and anodized aluminium. Its intricate pattern is cast in shadow by day and, arrayed with LED lights, has a celebratory luminescence by night.
UAP STUDIO, MATTHEW TOBIN
Artist
Matthew Tobin studied Visual Arts under prominent Australian artists William Robinson, Robert Morris, June Tupicoff and Robert Moore, before establishing Urban Art Projects in 1993. Matthew has collaborated extensively with artists and architects to create site-specific works for the public realm, and with Liam Proberts won the commission to design the Australian Police Memorial in Canberra in 2005. Landmark projects Matthew has realised for UAP include the Walama Forecourt at Sydney International Airport; Fiona Foley’s Mackay Artistic Infrastructure Project; and Reconciliation Place, Canberra. Based in Shanghai, Matthew heads up UAP’s China office, and is currently overseeing Entry Artworks for Shanghai Expo 2010, as well as projects in Ningbo, Kunshan and Dongqian.
UAP PROJECTS
Kunshan Rail
