The Social Communication of Urban Creativity within Historic Architectural Contexts
Okuda San Miguel Public Art Intervention in El Escorial
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62161/sauc.v12.6262Keywords:
Okuda San Miguel, S. L. de El Escorial, Contemporary Art Madrid, Communication, Creativity, Urban CultureAbstract
This article reflects on the impact of contemporary urban art on historic buildings, taking as a case study the intervention by the Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel (Santander, 1980) at the former Barracks of Invalids and Mounted Volunteers in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain), as well as on the importance of designing planned communication strategies to disseminate contemporary art among the wider public beyond the artwork itself. The research analyses how Okuda’s multifaceted oeuvre, characterised by geometry, vivid colour and pop-inspired fantasy, transforms heritage spaces into what may be described as a “small civic Sistine Chapel of urban art”, thereby opening a debate on the dialogue between tradition and avant-garde within architectural heritage. This dialogue is examined in a context as classically rooted and Renaissance-inspired as the Escorial setting, together with the later neoclassical constructions developed in the town during the eighteenth century.Downloads
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