The Colors of Public Art in Pescara: 4 Keywords

Abstract

This paper is the latest result of a research – shared with a few scholars of the Department of Architecture of the University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti and Pescara – on how colours can shape the perception of contemporary urban space. In particular, we present here a research that investigates the complex relationships that colours and space of Public Art establish with the citizens, the city and the specific architectures of Pescara. Over the years, Abruzzo's city has been the setting for a series of interesting works of public art – both ephemeral and long-lasting – in which colours play a fundamental role in establishing paths of urban transformation but also as synaesthetic acts and gestures of communication on different scales; artistic and socialising processes capable of releasing new aesthetic and participatory meanings to inhabit the collective and intimate space of urban spaces between art, architecture and design (and more). The works have been selected and divided using four keywords which highlight certain aesthetic characteristics of the colours that shape their perception. Ephemeral fluid red: Huge Wine Glass by Toyo Ito (in Piazza della Rinascita). Big Blue: A Fountain by Ettore Spalletti (placed in the square in front of the new Tribunal). Black & White: Dream by Millo (a mural painted on a blind facade of a building in the Fontanelle district). Habitable rainbow: The enchanted garden and Piazza Caduti del Mare by Franco Summa.