Art In Public Squares

Public space and city life has once again become the focus of social attention since 1970s, as people were more and more discontent with their living environment. Now, professionals in all related domains are making great efforts in order to create places more agreeable for people living in modern cities.Among various kinds of public spaces, square is one of the most important because of the large area and its absolute openness to everyone. Public squares serve as a centre stage, not only for urban inhabitants to participate in social activities, but also for the city itself to demonstrate its history and culture.The close relationship between art and public squares exits ever since the birth of the latter one in ancient Greece. Being an important element of city design, art beautifies and enlivens the space. Meanwhile, with the square becoming more and more attractive to the public, it brings tremendous possibilities for the development of art.This is just in the hour of need because modern art is right on the way of expanding into broader spaces. The new concept of 'public art' appeared in 1980s shows the perspective of art playing an important role in a new frontier. Public art is, to a great extent, a combination of modern art and architecture under the tendency of today's urbanization. In these circumstances, the thesis tries to explore the mutual beneficial relationship between art and public squares in three aspects: by reviewing the history of art and the history of city square, to give a brief introduction to the history of the two beneficing each other; basing on the principles of art, to summarize the necessary elements of art in the planning and design of squares; by analyzing both the material and spiritual characteristics of the square as a public space, to form a general idea of a even closer relationship between the public art and squares in the future.Seldom documents show that the subject has been systematically studied, though its significance is never so clear in China with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games drawing near. The thesis attempts to draw an outline for the study of the subject and to provide some information that maybe useful in further research.