Take It Outside

A serious case of spring fever hits as the art and design communities head outdoors.

Meghan Edwards -- Interior Design, 5/23/2008 12:00:00 AM

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Spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere, and so has a bevy of outdoor art and architecture. From a bird-mobile to a high-design playground and an Erector-set skyscraper, five alfresco shows enliven the U.S. and the U.K.

For the past decade, Chris Burden has been using stainless-steel replicas of Erector sets to build sculptures of bridges. Now, thanks to the Public Art Fund, he's constructing his most complex rendition yet at New York's Rockefeller Center. What My Dad Gave Me is his 65-foot-tall skyscraper containing 1 million of the tiny pieces. Check it out from May 28 to July 13.

Supersize cardboard tubes, sprouting strawberries, broccoli, and lavender, are the standout features of PF1, aka Public Farm One. Starting June 26, Work Architecture Company's winning design for the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center's annual summer Young Architects Program will fill the museum's courtyard in Long Island City, New York, with cascading greenery that descends over poolside seating accompanied by swings, fans, and sound effects.

The eagle has landed. No, wait—make that a seagull. Mark Dion's Seagull Appreciation Unit will be driven around Britain's southern coast as part of the inaugural Folkestone Triennial, running June 14 to September 14. Part of an initiative from the U.K.'s Creative Foundation, the event's 23 public-art projects also include work by Pae White and Mark Wallinger.

Since 2005, Sudeley Castle in the U.K.'s Cotswold Hills has been hosting annual exhibitions of garden sculpture. Running May 31 to October 31, the 2008 installment, "Artists' Playground," boasts pieces commissioned from 16 contributors. This mirrored labyrinth is by Jeppe Hein. There's also a giant slide by Zaha Hadid Architects.

"Sand: Memory, Meaning and Metaphor" kicks off high season in Southampton, New York. Starting June 29, the Parrish Art Museum is showing Mariko Mori's beachy Empty Dream alongside 50 sand-related paintings, sculptures, photographs, and films by the likes of Ashley Bickerton, Alex Katz, and Ernesto Neto.

To see selected images from these open-air exhibits, click above to start the slide show.