Porin Karjarannan asuntomessualueen taidekilpailu
Tavoitteena julkisten alueiden suunnittelijoiden ja taiteilijoiden välinen yhteistyö
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17409/kpt.63118Abstract
Since the first housing fair in Finland in 1970 housing fairs have been realized almost annually in different parts of the country. In 2018, a housing fair was organised in the Karjaranta neighbourhood in Pori. In the early stages of the planning, the officials’ wanted to include visual artists in the process. The aim was that artists would, together with city planners, develop the area to a good living environment. To reach this target, the city decided to organize an art competition for artists in the Satakunta region.
In this article, I focus on public art and the planning process of the Karjaranta area. I examine, if co-design happened due to the Karjaranta art competition, and if it happened, in which stage was art included in the planning process. With a questionnaire, I research how citizens relate to a specialist run art competition. What type of public art do the inhabitants wish to have in their living environment? I reference the theories of public art by Tarja Kekäläinen, Laura Uimonen, Malcolm Miles, Cher Kraus Knight and Sharon Zukin. As research material I have written sources and image material of the Karjaranta art competition and interviews.
The research shows that the Karjaranta art competition represents a model by which planning of public art and public art competitions usually proceed in Finland. The co-design was realised between the competition’s working group and the participating artists. The results of the questionnaire reveal that a high percentage of those who responded support the citizens' right to express their opinion on public art competitions. The respondents prefer public art relating to the history of the site and/or residential area. At its very best, public art creates a unique story and identity to the area.
Keywords: public art, public art competition, co-design, housing fair, city planning