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British artist Morag Myerscough has filled the entire ground floor of the newly reopened public space, 1 Finsbury Avenue Square (1FA) in Broadgate, London, with her characteristically colourful artwork as commissioned by British Land.
Providing a visual welcome in Myerscough’s signature style, the installation creates an attention-grabbing aesthetic for passerbys and users. The centrepiece of the bold works is Atoll, a colourful permanent 7.5m high structural intervention housing a cafe. A beacon that will encourage the public to use the newly opened route connecting the surrounding neighbourhood to the Broadgate campus, it makes a formerly corporate space accessible to all.
Inspired by how colour helps to improve wellbeing, her own connection with London where she has lived her entire life, Myerscough has also looked at the biophilia hypothesis for Atoll – the idea that humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with nature. The result is a playful and bold experience for London’s city dwellers.
“My fascination with how the Victorians made public parks for city workers to get fresh air at weekends (as a child I lived very close to Finsbury Park) has inspired me to bring the park to the workplace at 1FA,” Myerscough explains.
While the lower level is occupied by a café, run by Butterscotch Bakery, the upper level of the Atoll incorporates the outline of three London terraced houses, surrounded by dense planting and completed with six neon suns signifying joy and energy. The houses make reference to Broadgate’s residential history, introducing a sense of intimacy and domesticity to the space. The installation continues to spread through the whole of the atrium with large-scale patterned hand-painted walls.
A part of Broadgate’s DNA since the very beginning, the public artworks demonstrate Broadgate’s commitment to art and design. Other prominent permanent works include Richard Serra’s ‘Fulcrum’, Jim Dine’s ‘East End Venus’, Fernando Botero’s ‘Broadgate Venus’ and David Batchelor’s ‘Chromarama’.
British Artist Morag Myerscough creates permanent works for London’s Finsbury Avenue Square in her signature colourful style
