Running Track

Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre, Edmonton, CA 2010

commissioned by City of Edmonton
Architects: SAHURI + Partners Architecture Inc.

The intensely colored sculpture is a monumental hybrid between a runner and a racetrack; it seems abstract and figurative in equal part. Running Track combines the concrete, graphic aesthetic of sports (the lines of a racetrack, the sole of a sports shoe, the stripes of sports clothing) with the sculptural power of a dynamically curving form. The slight bend in the sculpture increases the potential of movement and at the same time places it in dialog with the oval course of the road’s drop-off loop. With its vital and moving expression, it refers directly to the activities on the site. The striking graphic quality of the lines and the exaggerated perspective give the work an explosive dynamic that is reminiscent of an animated cartoon. The laconic self-evidence and monumental size of the sculpture, however, creates a factual reality that cannot be overlooked and that puts an emblematic stamp on the area.

Photos: Raffaella Loro