Eco-didacticism in art and architecture: Design as means for raising awareness

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess a distinctive form of environmentally-driven architecture and public art practice that has emerged in urban contexts over the last two decades. It appears that these environmental practices have been developing a distinctive, didactic discourse in recent decades. We formulate the hypothesis that this form of creative intervention, which we provisionally name the “eco-art installation,” is part of an “eco-didactic turn” that crosses disciplines, specifically art, sustainable design, and architecture. This type of intervention further mobilizes different publics within various urban landscapes, and engages new forms of collaboration with municipal authorities. In this sense, the urban eco-art installation does not simply demonstrate its alignment with pressing ecological issues; rather, it is driven by an urgent need to explain. This new form of explanatory discourse places the “eco-message” squarely in the public realm. After differentiating between didacticism and dialecticism, we present specific approaches to assess the installations' communicative properties. Preliminary results show that these eco-art installations exist for the sake of communicating their message. The adoption of the public realm is key, since it may foster human encounters and engagement with the issues collectively, contributing to the potential of ‘public space as political forum’.