Designers and architects from leading architectural practice TURNER came together to create a large-scale, freestanding installation for the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition, which returned to Bondi, Sydney this year.

The artwork, which was on display on Tamarama Beach, was a major crowd favourite, captivating the hundreds and thousands of people who visited the outdoor sculpture exhibition and participated in the spectacular coastal walk.

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Titled ‘Coastal Threads’, the installation is an immersive maze-like sculpture composed of vibrant sunset-hued threads interwoven through a polished stainless steel frame. Reflecting the natural contours of the Bondi to Bronte coastline, the artwork invites interaction, encouraging visitors to explore and experience the beachside landscape from new perspectives.

“The sculpture reflects its location,” says Carolina Alvarez Arellano, Associate Director at TURNER. “The curves of the steel represent the coastal topography and the pathways that people take when walking through the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition from Bondi to Tamarama.”

“As architects and designers across disciplines, we are interested in how people will interact with the sculpture, how they will walk through it and what it will look like from different perspectives, distances and angles,” she explains.

“Designers usually think about how people inhabit a space and interact with each other. In this case, we want them to have a different experience of an artwork.”

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Developed collaboratively by a multidisciplinary team including architects, interior designers and experiential designers, the concept evolved through studio-wide brainstorming sessions with multiple team members contributing ideas. Xavier Knight provided the engineering services, and National Sign Building constructed the artwork’s signature polished stainless steel frame. The final assembly, involving colourful ropes being threaded through the prefabricated steel forms, was completed by TURNER’s own team on-site at Tamarama Beach.

Delivering public art projects is a defining capability of TURNER’s Experience Design team, which specialises in crafting immersive, human-centred environments that foster connection and meaning.

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With Coastal Threads, TURNER demonstrates its ability to transform creative ideas into site-responsive artworks that engage, inspire and connect with both people and place.

“Architecture is a creative industry, and our involvement with Sculpture by the Sea enabled us to explore that creativity in a different context,” observes James Lauman, Associate Director at TURNER.

“It was an important exercise in team building and collaboration for everyone who participated. We all learned some significant lessons in the process, as well as enjoying the creative process immensely.”

Images: Yolo Media

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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