‘Bicameral’ by artist Conrad Shawcross RA is the second sculpture in my walk across London where I visit 15 public art projects curated by Futurecity over the past 15 years. ‘Bicameral’ is sited at the Chelsea Barracks residential development*. Completed in 2019. It is constructed without using techniques drawn from Japanese wood joinery. Made of anodised aluminium, it is 8m tall with 693 component parts, that are joined together without any welding, bolts, or screws. The pieces cascade down in scale as they radiate out from the centre. Bicameral is located close to London’s oldest botanical garden and references the area’s rich botanical history.
Conrad commented: ‘The name Bicameral came from The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes, the abstract modular structure oscillates between recognisable natural systems such as neural pathways, a set of lungs, or a schematised tree, but in the end, it remains elusive to definition.’
*Futurecity developed a site wide public art strategy for Chelsea Barracks, the former army barracks now transformed into a residential development complete with restaurants and traditional garden squares. developed by Qatari Diar It spans 12.8 acres arranged around seven garden squares designed by landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman, and with a mix of new and renovated architecture by the practices of Eric Parry and Squires & Partners. The first residents moved into the development in the autumn of 2019.
Chelsea Barracks https://rb.gy/quspt
Client / Qatari Diar https://www.qataridiar.com/
Artist / Conrad Shawcross / https://conradshawcross.com/
Architects / Squires and Partners / https://squireandpartners.com/
Architects /Eric Parry / https://www.ericparryarchitects.co.uk/
Landscape Architect Gustaffson, Porter + Bowman https://www.gp-b.com/
Local Authority / City of Westminster / https://www.westminster.gov.uk/
Read more on Bicameral here