Star of Caledonia

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Star of Caledonia
Star of Caledonia at night.jpg
Artist's impression of the Star of Caledonia at night
Coordinates 54°59′54″N3°03′17″W / 54.998383°N 3.054854°W / 54.998383; -3.054854
Location Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Designer Cecil Balmond, Charles Jencks and Andy Goldsworthy
TypeStar
Material steel frame lit by LEDs

The Star of Caledonia, also called the Gretna Landmark, is a planned sculpture designed by Cecil Balmond, Charles Jencks and Andy Goldsworthy. [1] It is to be located near Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, close to the England-Scotland border. The sculpture was approved on 27 February 2013. [2] The project is being promoted by the Gretna Landmark Trust.

Contents

Background

The project was first instigated by local businesses and landowner Alasdair Houston. Other interested parties included both Gretna and Gretna Green and public art manager Jan Hogarth. [3] [4] It is hoped that the sculpture will attract visitors, boosting tourism, and result in social and economic benefits to the area. [5]

About 84% of all visitors to Scotland by road pass near Gretna. For the past seven years, meetings have been held with Scottish academics, cultural thinkers and the local community in a series of seminars and workshops run by the Gretna Landmark Project which resulted in the appointment of international architect Charles Jencks as the Trust's Creative Director. In 2011 a competition was launched by the Gretna Landmark Trust called "The Great Unknown" as a way to get ideas for a new local iconic landmark. Three shortlisted artists and designers collaborated with Jencks on proposals for the landmark. In July 2011 it was announced that Cecil Balmond had won the competition with the Star of Caledonia design. Planning permission was first proposed in 2012. [5] [6] [7] [8] A debate on the proposal was later held in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh in October 2011 by the two artists. [9]

It was also hoped that the sculpture would be built in early 2014, in time for both the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 Homecoming Scotland, and only taking a year to build. [3] [4] [5] [10] However, the projected date then slipped to 2015, which had been designated the UNESCO International Year of Light. [11] [12] This date has slipped past as well.

Funding

The initial design was expected to cost £3.8 million but this has since risen to £4.8 million. In 2011 Creative Scotland awarded the project £1 million from its capitals investment programme towards its development. [2] [5] However the project has failed to secure further commitments of public funding, leading to Creative Scotland withdrawing its £1 million support and putting the project further into question. [13] In May 2019, a three-year planning extension was granted allowing the team behind the sculpture more time to secure funding. [14] [15]

Location

The sculpture is to be located in a field opposite the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village, located on the outskirts of the town of Gretna in Scotland. The sculpture will be visible from the nearby A74(M) motorway. Instead of using road signs, the surrounding landscape is to be used as a way to recognise it and to turn crossing the border into a memorable experience. [1] [2] [16] It will also not be far from the River Sark. [1]

Design

Estimates of the height of the sculpture range from 40 metres (130 ft) [10] to 55 metres (180 ft) [4] [17] projected to be twice the size of the Angel of the North . The design is meant to pay homage to innovation within Scotland and be inspired by inventors and innovators, in particular prominent Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, who was famous for his work in electromagnetic theory. [1] [2] [16] [17]

The sculpture is to be in a star shape and to be made of galvanised steel and illuminated at night at its tips using "subtle lighting". The lights will be using LEDs, although the light emissions will be explored in more detail as part of the approval by the council. [2] [16]

The sculpture intends to pull together the surrounding hills, the adjacent site and the Solway. [1] The Gretna Landmark Trust have said that the sculpture's aim was to be "visually spectacular but meaningful, relating strongly to place and identity". [16]

Reception

Although no objection occurred to the planning application, [2] the design and proposal of the Star of Caledonia has received a mixed reception. The design has been supported by author Ian Rankin who has described it as futuristic and forward looking. A Scottish politician has also described it as fitting, in such an iconic location, novel and inspirational. It is also supported by local businesses including the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village. [17]

However, there has been some criticism by local artists and some architectural firms [17] [18]

The sculpture was subsequently included in a campaign to raise awareness of James Clerk Maxwell. [12]

Research has claimed the sculpture could be worth £16 million in its first year. In an external impact assessment carried out by BOP Consulting on behalf of Dumfries and Galloway Council and public art development company Wide Open, it found that the Star of Caledonia could bring in £2 million from construction, £4 million a year from tourism, up to £10 million in national and international publicity in the first four months and £300,000 locally. The sculpture is expected to attract 70,000 people a year when built. [11] [19]

In August 2014, the sculpture received the backing of United Kingdom MP Helen Grant. [20]

Related Research Articles

Dumfries and Galloway Council area of Scotland

Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It comprises the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, the latter two of which are collectively known as Galloway. The administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Dumfries. The second largest town is Stranraer, 75 miles to the west on the Irish Sea coast.

Kirkcudbrightshire Historic county in Scotland

Kirkcudbrightshire, or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the informal Galloway area of south-western Scotland. For local government purposes, it forms part of the wider Dumfries and Galloway council area of which it forms a committee area under the name of the Stewartry.

Gretna is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, originally part of the historic county of Dumfriesshire. It is located close to the A74(M) on the border of Scotland and England and near the mouth of the River Esk. It is the most southeasterly settlement in Scotland.

A75 road

The A75 is a primary trunk road in Scotland, linking Stranraer and its ferry ports at Cairnryan with the A74(M) at Gretna, close to the border with England and the M6 motorway.

Charles Jencks American architect

Charles Alexander Jencks was an American cultural theorist, landscape designer, architectural historian, and co-founder of the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres. He published over thirty books and became famous in the 1980s as a theorist of Postmodernism. Jencks devoted time to landform architecture, especially in Scotland. These landscapes include the Garden of Cosmic Speculation and earthworks at Jupiter Artland outside Edinburgh. His continuing project Crawick Multiverse, commissioned by the Duke of Buccleuch, opened in 2015 near Sanquhar.

Southern Uplands Southernmost and least populous region of Scotland

The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas. The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills and mountains within this region. An overwhelmingly rural and agricultural region, the Southern Uplands are partly forested and contain many areas of open moorland - the hill names in the area are congruent with these characteristics.

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting. It is currently represented in Westminster by the former Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, a Conservative, who has been the MP since 2005.

Annan, Dumfries and Galloway Human settlement in Scotland

Annan is a town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. Historically part of Dumfriesshire, its public buildings include Annan Academy, of which the writer Thomas Carlyle was a pupil, and a Georgian building now known as "Bridge House". The Town Hall was built in Victorian style in 1878, using the local sandstone. Annan also features a Historic Resources Centre. In Port Street, some of the windows remain blocked up to avoid paying the window tax.

Longtown, Cumbria Human settlement in England

Longtown is a market town in Cumbria, England, just south of the Scottish Border. It has a sheep market which was at the centre of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis. Just south-west of Longtown is Arthuret Church, dedicated to St Michael and All Angels.

South of Scotland Football League Association football league in Scotland

The South of Scotland Football League (SoSFL) is a senior football league based in south-west Scotland. The league sits at level 6 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League.

Palmerston Park Football stadium in Dumfries, Scotland

Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Championship club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club Heston Rovers have shared Palmerston since 2013. The stadium has a capacity of 8,690 of which 3,377 are seats.

Raydale Park Football stadium in Gretna, Scotland

Raydale Park is a football stadium in Gretna, Scotland. It is home to Lowland League side Gretna 2008 and now has a capacity of 1,030. Raydale formerly served as the home ground of Gretna until the club resigned from the Scottish Football League in 2008.

Eastriggs is a small village located in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland, the village is located around 2 mi (3.2 km) north of the mud and sandbanks of the channel of the River Eden, which extends west into the Solway Firth.

Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary Hospital in Scotland

Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary is the main hospital in Dumfries, Scotland. The hospital is managed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Anglo-Scottish border 96-mile long border between England and Scotland

The Anglo-Scottish border is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands".

NHS Dumfries and Galloway

NHS Dumfries and Galloway is an NHS board serving the Dumfries and Galloway region. It is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. NHS Dumfries and Galloway provides health care and promotes healthy living for the people of Dumfries and Galloway.

Cecil Balmond Structural engineer, artist

Cecil Balmond OBE is a Sri Lankan–British designer, artist, and writer. In 1968 Balmond joined Ove Arup & Partners, leading him to become deputy chairman. In 2000 he founded design and research group, the AGU.

Gretna F.C. 2008 Football club

Gretna Football Club 2008 is a football club from the town of Gretna. It was founded in 2008 after the bankruptcy and demise of Gretna, which had existed since 1946. Gretna 2008 is not a direct continuation of the old club, being under a completely different management and set-up; the club trades under the name Gretna FC 2008 Ltd to avoid confusion with the old Gretna.

Events from the year 2013 in Scotland.

Midpark Hospital Hospital in Scotland

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Star of Caledonia". Gretna Landmark Trust. 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Star of Caledonia: Scotland-England landmark plan approved". BBC News. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Star of Caledonia Scotland-England landmark progresses". BBC News. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "'Star of Caledonia' border landmark given go-ahead". The Scotsman. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Planning Approval For Star of Caledonia Gets Green Light". ArtLyst. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "Star of Caledonia to grace Scotland / England border". World Architecture News. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Project Development". Gretna Landmark Trust. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Landmark Context". Gretna Landmark Trust. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Star of Caledonia artists host Scottish identity debate". 11 October 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Gretna Landmark Project Press Release 2013". Gretna Landmark Trust. 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  11. 1 2 "Star of Caledonia: Landmark benefit 'worth £16m' claim". BBC News. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Campaign launched to raise profile in Scotland of the "Father of Modern Physics," James Clerk Maxwell". Dumfries & Galloway Standard. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Star of Caledonia: Gretna border project faces fund doubts". BBC News. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Star of Caledonia Scotland-England sculpture secures extra time". BBC News. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  15. ↑ "Multi-million pound landmark 'Star of Caledonia' could still go ahead". ITV News. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Go-ahead for Star of Caledonia landmark statue at Gretna". The Cumberland News. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "On the Ground: Star of Caledonia (editorial)". World Architecture News. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Bin proposed Star of Caledonia for artistic, cultural and political reasons". Herald Scotland. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  19. ↑ Victoria Brenan (13 March 2014). "Star of Caledonia Landmark Would Provide Economic Boost". News and Star . Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  20. ↑ "Star of Caledonia Idea Wins Minister's Backings". The Herald. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
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