The Case for Public Art in Suburban Architecture

Walking around Kuala Lumpur, one can easily sense and discern the identity of this metropolis; with her architectural marvels, historic sites, and or course, public art.  Sculptures found in parks and squares break the monotony of skyscraper and highways.  Murals help give character to stretches of concrete pavements and add visual splendour to one’s adventure around the streets of KL.

But as visceral and vibrant the streets and built environment in KL may be, the opposite is also sadly true of the suburban architecture found in the Klang Valley.  Like most suburban architecture around the world, satellite cities in Malaysia were designed to accommodate the influx of migrants to major cities.  These satellite cities, more commonly known as suburbs, were designed and built to decentralize major hubs such as Kuala Lumpur.  The success and growth of these satellite cities have been phenomenal.  Housing projects found around the Klang Valley such as Subang, Bandar Utama and Shah Alam, have enabled the populace to live in relatively safe and comfortable houses and surroundings. 

But as successful as they are as housing and development projects, they have resulted in an unforeseen and rather deplorable side-effect.  These mass housing projects have not only resulted in a loss of architectural heritage through their homogenous and clinical forms; they have also caused the loss of a sense of community for those staying there.  The repetitive and uniform designs have resulted in soulless architectural reproductions – and this soullessness seems to have extended to the inhabitants as well.  Most living in these suburbs would attest to the fact that they do not have a sense of belonging to the area they are living in; and this invariably affects the sense of community for those living there.  The loss of the sense of community is inextricably linked to the loss of identity – the identity of the place which they call home.  All this contributes to a drop in quality of life.  Cold and detached architecture than alienates the human senses and urban designs that discourage public interaction.  All of which lead to the loss of communality. 

And although one wishes that the architecture and design of these houses and suburbia would change, the economic reality and pressures of development will ensure that change will be slow in coming.  In lieu of that, it is then up to public art to mitigate and address the side-effects of suburban living.  The most obvious contribution of Public Art is that of the visceral and visual.  The aesthetic benefits are without question – installations, sculptures and murals will inject much needed visual vibrancy to the repetitive banality of suburban housing.  The visual treat and break from the mundane will then bring about a much needed vitality to the inhabitants.  Suburban dwellers no longer have to suffer the endless rows of prefabricated houses; where every street looks the same; where there is to distinguish one suburban hosing development from the other.  Imagine the visual possibilities of each corner, or park, or public space, or street having an artwork to call their own; whether it be a sculpture or a mural.  Each street and suburban space would have a visual identity; something that separates it from the adjacent street or neighbouring area. 

This would then offset the placelessness and sense of loss inherent in suburbia; for creating an identity for suburban living area not only benefits the place itself, but also gives a sense of identity to those who dwell there as well.  Most suburban dwellers seem to exist in a detached state of living and existing due to the aforementioned lack of belonging and community; and that is directly linked to the inability to identify with the their surroundings.  Public Art has the ability to not only create a sense of identity for the built environment, but for people too.  Creating a meaningful identity to any place is gravely important to enable inhabitants to see that their built environment is an extension of their ‘self’ as oppose to just seeing as merely structural constructions.  As great civic architectures of the past were a sense of pride for the communities they were built for, Public Art can easily step into that role – a role to create a sense of monumentality and of identity.    

Another aspect that Public Art can improve the quality of suburban living is its the ability to draw people out of their shells – in this case, their uniform abodes – by becoming informal social collection points.  These magnetic places will serve as conversation pieces for the inhabitants; and when one is compel to communicate with his or her neighbours, the bonds of community are formed.  The ability to make people talk to one another is something that is taken for granted – especially in this digital age – so the role of Public Art in giving the art of conversation a sense or renaissance is by no means an insignificant gesture.

The other aspect of community building is that Public Art has the ability to get the inhabitants involved with its genesis.  Communities can dictate the form of the artwork that best expresses and represents who and what they are as a community.  The opportunity to give input in the shaping of one’s surroundings gives one a sense of belonging and importance.  Through careful deliberation with the artist, the artwork has the ability to reflect not only the community is was designed for; but gives the artist an opportunity to use local contextual forces to shape his interpretations; ensuring both originality and propriety.   The end result belongs as much to the artist as is to the community.

To counter the sense of loss and detachment mentioned earlier, Public Art can engage with the suburban dweller more than the architecture ever can.  This goes beyond the communal engagement.  The engagement here is of the human senses.  The sense of detachment is caused by the inability of our environment to involve our human senses.  Although we see, smell, hear and touch what is around us, we do not experience beyond the superficial.  And why should we?  There is hardly anything in suburbia that calls out to our senses.  But to truly live we desperately need that relationship.  We need our senses to be constantly stimulated and aroused.  This is level of sensuality is what Public Art can achieve.  Imagine walking down ‘corridors’ adorned with murals rather than concrete sidewalks.  Imagine how the movement from the sun changes the appearance of a sculpture or installation.  These serve to ignite our visual sense and enrich our soul.  The sense of touch and intimacy is the other sense that will be excited by the various textures and materials found in installations and sculptures.  As you move around the artwork, you cannot help but touch the surface – to sense the temperature, the texture, the weight.  This simple form of interaction not only draws you closer to your surroundings, but inspires imagination.  The sense of sound and smell are brought in the fold as well: the sound of touch on certain surfaces, or how the artwork sounds as rain and wind wash and caress it – and the smell of how certain materials interact with the natural elements.  This is but a simple example of how Public Art can serve to excite our senses and resuscitate our vigour for life.

Architecture is often called ‘the art in which we live in’ but the absence of art in suburban architecture today it is then up to Public Art to supply the nourishment and soul to the inhabitants of suburbia.