Urban, accessible to all art is part of the concepts of the improvement and development of megacities around the world. At the same time, the concepts of public art * integration are being implemented not only within the framework of the development of the city by the authorities, but also on private initiatives. Anastasia Malkova, managing partner of STONE HEDGE, is the opinion of STONE HEDGE managing partner Anastasia Malkova about the benefits and interest of the developer in working with art for the mass audience and whether public art objects can influence the sales and demand for a development project.

Art Tax and Landmark Bulls

The creation of art in an urban environment by private development companies is a common practice for objective reasons in the world's largest megacities. When creating a new project in an urban environment, be it housing, retail or offices, a developer somehow changes the urban fabric - which means he must form his own points of attraction, giving context to the new architecture. We recognize the centers of different cities in photographs not only by their architectural landmarks, but above all by the monuments and sculptures installed in central locations.


Therefore, when a developer builds a new project, placing a recognizable and noticeable object of art in its environment or inside it is primarily a designation of the building - or, if you prefer, a method of integrating the new construction into the surrounding space. Few of us recognize the facades of New York's Wall Street buildings, but Charging Bull by Italian sculptor Arturo di Modica is identified by everyone who has ever seen at least New York postcards. More modern examples work in the same way: in Venice, a sculpture called Support, created specifically for the 2017 Venice Biennale, according to the sculptor's idea, was a call for humanity to respond to climate change before it’s too late. And today it is inextricably linked with the architectural landscape of the city. Or, for example, Anish Kapoor's The Bean at the facade of a skyscraper on Leonard Street, sculpture park Millennium Park in Chicago, created by a private developer - all these objects at a basic level allow, first of all, to recognize the location and, as a result, draw people's attention to it. architecture.


In America, the development of publicly available art is regulated at the legislative level. “Art tax” is a legislative practice, when 1% of the budget of a construction project is allocated for the creation of public art objects in its surroundings. The obligatory measure was the response of the authorities to the rapid development of private construction in the country and worked extremely well: thanks to the tax, not only residential and office, but even industrial and warehouse facilities are acquiring their own points of attraction.

There is no such practice at the level of law in Russia, but private initiatives are gradually gaining ground, including in the minds of city residents. When people encounter art every day, it affects the quality of their life, especially for children, developing creative and critical thinking in them. It is easy to form a popular social environment around an object of public art: even a small square acquires significance in the space of a city when an object of art that attracts attention appears in it. Public art can also radically change the landscape of the interior of a property. In one of the first implemented projects of STONE HEDGE TriBeCa Apartments in Moscow, back in 2016, we installed a sculpture in the shape of the head of the Statue of Liberty. The stylish art object is located in the courtyard of the residential complex and is installed on a low pedestal framed by an artificial reservoir. The solution not only at the conceptual level linked the residential area with the "namesake" -district in New York, but also made it possible to designate the project area for users of the infrastructure located in the courtyard. The first success many years ago allowed us to understand that art in development projects can be scaled, but most importantly, public art can develop in real estate on its own, if the right working conditions are created for this.

Pop-up for real estate monetization and growth

Art in development projects is not only sculptures in open public spaces, but also museum or pop-up exhibitions. A truly successful art collaboration for a developer is one that makes art public, that is, accessible to a wide audience. Temporary exhibitions and pop-up museums, reliable contractors of the developer in partnership projects on the topic of art and conceived as a fickle initiative, can become a personal operator of culture for years to develop the object. In the case of construction of an object far from the business flows of the city center, the development of a pop-up museum may be a logical answer for creating fashionable, stylish, in-demand public spaces that acquire regional significance.


When we created POP UP MUSEUM in the NEO GEO design business center in 2017, we counted on a one-year cooperation period, but as a result, exhibitions were housed for three years on 2000 m2 of exposition (the largest mobile museum in the world in terms of area). We have held over 60 exhibitions, bringing together over 1800 art objects from 800 Russian and foreign authors. Today POP UP MUSEUM has become a personal cultural operator for NEO GEO and continues to hold mobile displays in the atriums of the business center. For us, as a developer, the collaboration with the museum has become a logical step in the formation of the concept of a design business center - one of the first in Moscow. Our art project was not limited only to financial support, but became the company's contribution to the popularization of contemporary Russian art and the support of domestic artists. But in addition, for residents, such a space is an opportunity for additional space for negotiations, a reason to invite partners to their own headquarters, and the idea of ​​excursions for employees and guests was embodied on a regular basis. Placing a pop-up museum in public areas of a business center solves several problems at once: makes it a noticeable socially significant center on the city map, supports the concept and atmosphere of the complex and becomes an additional place for recreation and meetings for residents and guests. So, together with POP UP MUSEUM, we set a new vector for the development of art outside the Garden Ring, creating in NEO GEO a center of cultural attraction in the region and in the south-west of the capital in general.

With due synergy from the management company, such residents become part of the service concept of the facility: a pool of special opportunities and services from the gallery is formed for residents - from organizing private events to decorating spaces and personal exhibitions in penthouses. Art can and should exist in the environment, and its thoughtful integration into real estate, if all goes well, only strengthens the bond with them. We have integrated this practice of interacting with the tenant in the project of low-rise mansions Art Residence on "Belorusskaya" together with the gallery of contemporary art JART. While conceiving the residential complex as an art residence, we understood that we needed not only an appropriate naming of the project, but also a real cultural component. Thanks to the JART Gallery, as a personal cultural operator for the residential complex, we managed to create a place for life and work, including for artists and artists. It is important that with a successful combination of the work of the management company and the gallery, art literally goes beyond the walls of the room, which expands the resident's possibilities for holding, for example, public art exhibitions. So, for example, in September 2021, together with JART, we held a large-scale site-specific exhibition "Ouroboros", accessible to all Muscovites. The project has become truly unique both in terms of scale and the pool of authors. Curator Sergei Khachaturov has brought together an unexpected composition of artists: from very young authors to masters of Russian contemporary art. The works of the authors are located in various locations of the Art Residence, both within the walls of the gallery and beyond. All installations were created specifically for the exhibition and organically fit into the space of our complex. A project like Ouroboros has allowed us to form a qualitatively new ecosystem for life, in which, in addition to high service, genuine art is organically present. And any creativity is also an emotion, namely the emotional component attracts the eyes and draws the attention of the clients of premium real estate.


In this case, can art become a tool for real estate sales? As a rule, direct effects are difficult to detect. It should be noted that art concepts are being implemented in residential and multifunctional complexes already at the final stage of sales or after their completion - when the object has already been put into operation. But for whom such collaborations are definitely relevant - it is for developers who are accustomed to playing for a long time, aimed at shaping the image and reputation of their projects in the urban environment. Several successful examples of the integration of art into the public areas of residential and office centers, the correct and reasonable choice of art partners form the image of a responsible company capable of taking responsibility for the life and operation of its facilities in the city and after making a profit. This means that in the future, implement projects with a responsible approach and create not only an effective, but an aesthetic and emotional environment for life and work in a metropolis.


* Public art - art in an urban environment, aimed at an unprepared viewer and implying communication with the urban space.


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