"One Phoebe Fence and Gates"

Address: 18 Beverley Street
Artist: John McKinnon
Public Art Consultant: Art Collection of Canada
Clients: Diamante Development Corporation and Wittington Properties Limited

Project Description

Phoebe on Queen is a three-building condominium project with a fence and gates on the north east corner and all along the west building. The artist cut and welded the fence himself treating it like fine hand-crafted furniture.

The fence melds the industrial with the organic. The curving repetitive forms between the steel posts acknowledge the iteration of nature's forms, while the post construction references a semi-factory aesthetic tying the interior and exterior of the building - nature's soft character on the interior and the hard horizontal features of the building forms on the exterior. The fence is entirely made of galvanized steel primed and top coated with exterior latex paint.

Jurors' Comments

The interface of public and private realms is marked with refined emphasis and grace by this arrangement of metal railings and gateways. Designed by an artist for the site, the open-wrought fence lends strength to the streetscape and a sense of privacy to the enclosed buildings. It is a refined example of a good urban condition created when the need for demarcation is taken as a creative opportunity, instead of another occasion for putting in off-the-rack, standardized fencing.