The Role of Art in Activating Underutilised Urban Spaces
Across the built environment, liminal zones; alleyways, retaining walls, façades, and underpasses, often sit in a kind of spatial limbo. They exist between function and neglect, structure and experience. Yet within these overlooked surfaces lies immense potential. When art intervenes, these dormant spaces are not merely decorated, they are redefined.
A Legacy of Spatial Transformation
Throughout history, art has served to animate space, from the frescoes of Pompeii that brought private villas to life, to the expansive murals of Diego Rivera that gave voice to public life in industrial Mexico. In the 20th century, movements like Constructivism and De Stijl sought to integrate art and architecture, collapsing the boundary between aesthetic and utility.
The Bauhaus, in particular, championed the idea that art should be embedded within the architecture of everyday life; a notion that continues to shape contemporary public art practice. Today, urban murals continue this legacy, offering a direct and immersive form of spatial storytelling.
From Void to Vocation: The Architectural Role of Art
In architectural discourse, activation refers to the process of enlivening space. Making it legible, experiential, and human-centred. Jane Jacobs, in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, spoke to the necessity of "eyes on the street" and the role of visual vitality in creating safe, lived-in environments. Murals play directly into this, offering both surveillance and symbolism, presence and personality.
Where architecture provides the bones, the grid, the geometry, and the frame, art brings the skin. A responsive layer that softens, amplifies, and contextualises the built form.
The Power of Abstraction in Public Space
My own practice draws on the visual language of geometric abstraction, influenced by Suprematism, the Colour Field painters, and contemporary minimalism. These movements, while disparate in origin, share a belief in the emotional potency of form and colour. When applied at scale, abstraction does not dictate meaning but invites interpretation, allowing viewers to find their own narrative in the composition.
Abstract public art is particularly potent in transitional urban spaces. It doesn’t compete with signage or architecture, but resonates with rhythm, texture, and flow; creating movement where there was once monotony.
A Dialogue Between Artist and Environment
Successful urban art is not imposed. It emerges through dialogue; with site, community, and architecture. Each mural I create begins with a study of context: the surfaces, the light, the geometry of nearby buildings, and the cultural tone of the area.
In a recent laneway activation in Glenelg, I designed a mural that referenced coastal hues and organic waveforms, offering a visual echo of the sea within an otherwise rigid, concrete corridor. This kind of intervention reorients how the space is perceived: from shortcut to destination, from functional to memorable.
Art as Urban Placemaking
At its best, public art becomes a mechanism of placemaking. It asserts identity, fosters belonging, and signals care. The presence of art suggests that a space is not forgotten, it is intentional.
When integrated early into architectural planning (rather than applied post-occupancy), murals can serve as cultural infrastructure. They guide movement, soften hardscapes, and create emotional resonance within civic or commercial developments.
The activation of underutilized urban spaces through art is not an act of embellishment. It is an act of transformation. It continues a lineage of embedded art practice that spans from ancient frescoes to the modern city wall.
When art and architecture are placed in dialogue, the result is not merely visual. It is spatial, psychological, and social. In this way, a mural becomes more than an image. It becomes part of the urban fabric.