ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a case study of a particular example of public art along Modern Avenue, created for Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), to explore how art in public space might decorate and imagine a new city. The local media gives such a description of Modern Avenue: “The buildings on both sides of the road, from planning layout to design style, embody the modern concept of the park”. The SIP government commissioned the Australian landscape design company Johnson Pilton Walker to design the landscape of Modern Avenue, setting the tone of “modern” with 105 pieces of urban sculpture and street furniture works interpreting “modern” notes. In the study of urban culture, cities are regarded as “a landscape composed of various city signifiers”. Public art is undoubtedly a very important “subset” among these signifiers. The designing and placement of urban sculptures and installations was initially the responsibility of the SIP’s Construction Bureau under the Urban Planning and Construction Committee.
