The relationship between public spaces and private buildings is symbiotic. Public streets and plazas provide the infrastructure for transportation, access and leisure space for private commercial and residential buildings. In turn, those private buildings help delineate and contextualize the public space.
Private Surface, Public Pleasure aims to make this relationship visible by appropriating the surface of a private building with large-scale projections and altering the atmosphere of an adjacent public urban space. The proposed site was the old Eaton’s building located across from the Vancouver Art Gallery and Robson Square. The projection of a full size container ship circling around the facades juxtaposes the scale of the ocean and the city, and connects the movement of goods to their place of sale. The projection creates a spectacle that alters the environment and draws attention to the complex relationship shipping, commerce, private buildings and public space.
