Artists sculpt Bland Castles out of sand for Heatherwick's Humanise campaign
As part of architect Thomas Heatherwick's campaign Humanise, a group of artists has created sandcastles "mimicking the flat, lifeless buildings all too common in our towns".
The one-day event, which took place yesterday in the UK seaside town of Morecambe Bay, saw sand artist group Sand In Your Eye create a three-metre-wide cityscape called Bland Castles.
The sculptures, which resemble tower blocks, were designed to be "deliberately bleak", according to Heatherwick.
They were "mimicking the flat, lifeless buildings all too common in our towns and cities across the UK, forming a deliberately bleak installation", the organisers said.
Bland Castles forms part of Heatherwick's Humanise campaign, which aims to draw attention to "the growing 'blandemic' of uninspired, soulless buildings across the world".
It also invited the public to design and build their own sandcastles as part of the event, which were decorated with shells and flags for a "more joyful" effect.
"The Humanise campaign's Bland Castles beach takeover is a poignant idea, because it's both powerful and also very playful," Heatherwick said.
"Taking the beautifully simple act of building sandcastles on a beach yet making them boring and soulless."
He argues that the "bland" sandcastles represent the current design of our cities, which he believes the public should be involved in developing.
"That's what's been happening in our towns and cities for far too long," Heatherwick said. "The places where we live, that are meant to lift us up, are instead bringing us down."
"But just look at what's happening at Morecambe Bay when the public are invited to be involved. They, of course, don't want soulless blocks, but instead are creating interesting, uplifting structures," he added.
"Proof, if we really do still need it, that human beings need joyful human buildings with complexity, detail and interestingness."
The one-day event, which took place on 6 August, is the latest from the Humanise campaign, which has previously created "boring alter-egos" of UK landmarks.
Founder Heatherwick chose 10 "humanised" buildings as part of the campaign for Dezeen.
The photography is by James Speakman, PA Media Assignments.
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