Lakwena wraps an entire electrical substation with giant graphic artwork

Today (19 January), London-based artist Lakwena reveals a huge public artwork that looks just like a funfair ride. The structure is 21 metres high and 52 metres long and wraps around Brent Cross Town’s new electrical substation, standing, at its highest point, taller than the Angel of the North. If Do are the architects on the project.

Lakwena and If Do have designed Here we come, here we rise around the idea of movement. Inspired by the likes of Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies, as well as well-known roadside structures like billboards and funfairs, the artwork blends industrial forms with Lakwena’s signature vivid palette and unique blend of poetry and graphics. If Do and Lakwena have used triangular-shaped ‘lenticular’ panels to create a kaleidoscopic effect, “to emphasise the idea of movement as viewers move around the structure”. Lighting, from Michael Grubb Studio, is designed to be discreet and create a halo which filters down to the lower levels of the structure.

If Do states: “It is designed to be viewed both in motion by the millions that pass the site by train and by road [to be enjoyed by passengers not drivers of course!] and to convey a sense of motion as it is viewed from across the neighbourhood.” The public artwork is estimated to be seen by approximately 6 million people every year from road and rail alone, due to its location next to London’s A406 North Circular, the Thameslink railway line and the new Brent Cross West station.

The name Here we come, Here we rise and shine reflects the aim to inspire and bring together the local community. Lakwena explains: “The key pledges of the Brent Cross Town development highlight a commitment to play, inclusivity, sustainability and connectivity. All of these themes are expressed through a messaging approach which alludes to movement, togetherness, ambition and a sense of newness.” The wider Brent Cross Town is being delivered in partnership by Related Argent and Barnet Council.