Bureau Spectacular Opens Urban Clippings Installation

The Los Angeles–based firm designs a kaleidoscope-like structure in Taiwan as part of a Taipei art project.

1 MIN READ

Courtesy Blue Dragon Art Company

Ever take time to slow down and just enjoy the small bits of life that pass by? Jimenez Lai, founder and partner of Los Angeles–based firm Bureau Spectacular, has created a temporary structure called “Urban Clippings (Mirror in the Sky)” that allows guests to frame and admire the cityscape of Taipei, Taiwan, in small pieces.

Bureau Spectacular was chosen to complete the project for Taipei’s 2016 Landscape Art Project to “transform locations, objects, people and events,” according to the firm’s press release. Urban Clippings is a cube-like structure with different cut-out windows and a mirrored interior meant to resemble a kaleidoscope. It sits on four legs, and visitors are encouraged to enter the installation by crawling under the box and re-emerging in one of the cut-outs in the bottom of the structure.

Courtesy Blue Dragon Art Company

Inside, the different openings allow visitors to see part of the city in a small frame. Guests also will be able to see their reflection in the mirrored interior, which is designed to spur reflection about how they view themselves in the urban environment.

Lai’s intention was to emphasize “seeing the unseen” by creating a new perspective of Taipei. His other projects include the flagship store for the high-end clothing line Frankie in Los Angeles and the multi-colored Tower of Twelve Stories sculpture at Coachella Valley Music and Art Festival in Indio, Calif.

The installation will be in Jiancheng Park in Taipei until Dec. 28.

Courtesy Blue Dragon Art Company

Courtesy Blue Dragon Art Company

About the Author

Symone Strong

Symone is an associate editor for Zonda's BUILDER and Multifamily Executive magazines. She also has stories in other company publications, including ARCHITECT. She earned her B.S. in journalism and a minor in business communications from Towson University.

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