RMIT student Yidan ‘Dyann’ Fang has created a unique public artwork, The Arch of Spring, on display in Madame Brussels Lane in Melbourne’s CBD.
The piece, part of a collaboration between RMIT and property fund manager ISPT through its agent CBRE, aims to enhance the public realm of the building forecourt, while simultaneously exploring the partnership between people and the environment.
Fang, who preceded her Master of Art (Art in Public Space) with a Bachelor of Landscape Architectural Design, said the design was inspired by urban environmental issues.
“The mini garden is a dome structure that is inspired by the environmental issue of urban heat island effect because it seems to me that global warming and urban heat island effect takes the form of an upside-down bowl that covers the city,” she said.
“The steaming hot air and the gradually more serious environmental problems are like a giant steamer, covering the environment in which we live.”
“The arch structure is meant to create a gathering place, to provide vitality and greenery in this site.”
“At the same time, the design is expanding the planting of edible plants to help increase plant diversity and living space for organisms to achieve a good, balanced symbiotic relationship.”
In the collaboration with ISPT, RMIT supplied the collective creative minds of staff and students from many disciplines.
An Applied Design Research team, led by RMIT Architecture Senior Lecturer Dr Jan van Schaik, managed the process for the commercial property company in its mission to develop meaningful places where people can come together to connect and collaborate, transforming buildings and activating spaces.
