{"id":7489,"date":"2010-04-04T10:06:47","date_gmt":"2010-04-04T08:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=7489"},"modified":"2010-04-04T10:06:47","modified_gmt":"2010-04-04T08:06:47","slug":"plettenberg-bay-has-a-whale-of-a-new-main-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/whale-cottage-portfolio\/plettenberg-bay-has-a-whale-of-a-new-main-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Plettenberg Bay has a whale of a new Main Road!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A project spread over more than 4 years to redesign the Main Road of Plettenberg Bay between the Upper Deck (at the Dolphin roundabout) to The Grand Cafe has been completed, and is a model of urban design and art, particularly as it has incorporated the most unusual art work in the road redesign, which was manufactured in Plettenberg Bay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The highlight of the urban artwork, which\u00a0is spread every 25 – 30 meters along the road, is the large whale tail at the newly constructed roundabout at The Grand Cafe.\u00a0 Other pieces represent the area\u00a0through works entitled Seaweed, Tree, Flower, Thistle, African Totem, Chalice, Aloe, Fish, Youth, Maiden, Woman, Man, Cup, Bird, Reeds, Flame, and many more.<\/p>\n

The design for the artwork was\u00a0the inspiration of\u00a0Mario\u00a0Bonadei, of Bonadei Architects, Cape Town based architect and urban designer,\u00a0who was awarded the project by the Bitou municipality of Plettenberg Bay.\u00a0\u00a0 His design brief was to create the best promenade in the world, integrating both sides of the street.\u00a0\u00a0 His design did not only address the road surface and parking, but also incorporated urban and landscape art.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bonadei felt that trees would take too long to grow to make a statement on the Main Road, and thus looked for another way to do this.\u00a0\u00a0 He wanted urban artwork to play a role in illuminating the road at night, and it had to be lightweight, be wind resistant, be locally made, and reflect the Garden Route and\u00a0the marine wealth of Plettenberg Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A project team\u00a0that Bonadei put together with input by Lisa Murray, the owner of Limited Edition in The Heath outside Plettenberg Bay, her Manager Oliver Koetter, and her husband Keith, who owns a modern sawmill company in Plettenberg Bay, created the 36 pieces of urban art for the road.\u00a0\u00a0 Koetter oversaw the production of the artwork, with regular inspiration from Bonadei.<\/p>\n

Township residents from Plettenberg Bay were involved in the project.\u00a0\u00a0 Stainless steel\u00a0was hand-bent into cages,\u00a0from which\u00a0the urban art\u00a0shapes were created.\u00a0\u00a0 Coloured plexiglass (the strong plastic from which aeroplane windows are made) strips\u00a0were incorporated into the design, to add colour.\u00a0 Each artwork has a base, in which\u00a0a light is contained, and to which the artwork is bolted.<\/p>\n

Bonadei is working with owners of buildings on Main Road, to upgrade their buildings, to add to the road architecture that he has created for this beautiful town.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information contact Mario Bonadei, Bonadei Architects, Cape Town, tel 021 686-7318.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A project spread over more than 4 years to redesign the Main Road of Plettenberg Bay between the Upper Deck (at the Dolphin roundabout) to The Grand Cafe has been completed, and is a model of urban design and art, particularly as it has incorporated the most unusual art work in the road redesign, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,592,21,241],"tags":[770,4014,4010,83,4017,4019,4016,4021,4018,4009,2237,4013,4093,32390,4012,4015,4022,4023,68,4008,4011],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t