Impressive Urban Art Installations

“1550 Chairs Stacked Between Two City Buildings”, Istanbul, Turkey

Doris Salcedo created an installation titled “1550 Chairs Stacked Between Two City Buildings” at Istanbul Biennial. In 2002, Salcedo placed 280 chairs at the Palace of Justice in Bogot “to pay homage to those killed here in a failed guerrilla coup seventeen years earlier.” In 2003, she filled the Istanbul Biennial space between two buildings with 1,550 chairs “evoking the masses of faceless migrants who underpin our globalized economy.”

chair-installation-by-doris-salcedo
Image Credit: Muammer Yanmaz

“Biografias” an installation by Alicia Martin at Casa de America, Madrid

Alicia Martin, an artist based in Spain, transforms thousands of disused books into tumultuous towers that pour out of windows. It can almost be described as a tornado of books that starts from the window and ends on the street down below. This waterfall of approximately 5000 books ‘streams’ out of the Casa de America in Madrid. Its massive size outside has obviously attracted people to want to see it. To support the heavy weight of the books, each sculpture has a special metal framework inside. They make the installation safe and sturdy, however, the books’ pages are left loose and free to rustle in the wind.

urban art installations

Amazing installations of giant athletes interacting with the city of Rio for the 2016 Olympics

@jr

A Cube Worth Millions: The Castello Cube

On February 2, 2022, an extraordinary sculpture appeared in Central Park, New York, for just one day—The Castello Cube. Created by artist Niclas Castello, this striking 410-pound cube was made of pure 24-carat gold, with an estimated value of $11.7 million at the time. While the artwork itself was not for sale, its presence sparked conversations about luxury, exclusivity, and the intersection of art and finance. A fleeting yet unforgettable display, the Castello Cube remains one of the most extravagant public art installations in recent history.

90,000 Colorful Plastic Ball Installation Inspired by Monet

Claude Cormier + Associates

SpY Transforms a Ghent Building into a Spiny Thicket of Bright Orange Traffic Cones

In late 2023, Spanish artist SpY unveiled “Cones,” a site-specific installation at Ghent University’s Aula Academica. This intervention enveloped the building’s neoclassical facade with hundreds of bright orange traffic cones, transforming its grand columns into a dense array of spiny protrusions. By day, the cones offered a playful and unexpected visual, while at night, they emitted a warm orange glow, casting an ethereal light on the surrounding area. “Cones” served as a preliminary project leading up to the 2024 Lichtfestival Ghent, inviting viewers to reconsider everyday urban elements within the context of historic architecture.

SpY Transforms a Ghent Building into a Spiny Thicket of Bright Orange Traffic Cone

The Sequence by Arne Quinze in Brussels, Belgium

Phone cabinet aquarium art, Japan

The impressive aquarium was created by a Japanese group of young artists, named Kingyobu. In Japan, the goldfish holds great symbolic significance. It is believed to bring happiness and prosperity, like an enchanting good luck charm. Thus, the resulting public aquariums offer something magical that is sure to catch the eye of pedestrians.

Lighting Layers & Reflections by Autumn de Wilde

Contemporary art in the park of Chaudfontaine, Belgium

Red chairs urban art installation

Jewellery urban art installation, Netherlands

Rua Direita – Aveiro. Street decorated for a commercial film of Italian biscuits

Car Cemetery, France

10 meters high Car Tower, Wuhan Culture Creation Industrial Park, Hubei, China

Politicians Discussing Climate Change installation in Berlin by Isaac Cordal

900-Pound Box Man by Pablo Curutchet

Cityscope by Marco Hemmerling

Literally a reflection of the city around it, Marco Hemmerling’s ‘Cityscope’ is a multi-faceted glass art installation that acts as an urban kaleidoscope, catching the light and displaying dream-like fragments of buildings. At night, the sculpture is illuminated from within, shining like a rainbow-colored crystal outside the railway station in Cologne, Germany.