Nils Norman
Proposal for a Mural. A Portrait of Bexhill, 2007 © Nils Norman
Nils Norman lives in London and works across the disciplines of art, architecture and urban planning. He is interested in ways in which public art can stimulate regeneration. Informed by local politics and developments in alternative economic, ecological systems, Norman’s work merges utopian alternatives with current urban design to create a humorous critique of the discrete histories and functions of public art and urban planning.
Play is an important conceptual and design element in much of his work, which is informed by extensive international research. He has created a number of playscapes, creative play structures and adventure playgrounds over the past ten years and is particularly interested in the introduction of risk into play.
He has completed major public art projects, including a pedestrian bridge, small playgrounds and a landscaping project for the City of Roskilde in Denmark; has participated in various biennials worldwide and has developed commissions for the Underground and Tate Modern in London, SculptureCenter in Long Island City and Creative Time in New York, and the Centre d’ Art Contemporain in Geneva, Switzerland.
He is currently developing two small-scale urban farming parks in the Hague, the Netherlands and is lead artist for a regeneration scheme in Trumpington, south Cambridge which includes play elements, street furniture, an allotment, community garden and wayfinding. He is also Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark, where he leads the School of Walls and Space.
Norman’s wider interest in collaboration, play and regeneration was ideal for the creation of the Green Spaces Commission for Hengrove.
