London Design Festival 2017: Kaleidoscope Urban: Thessaloniki

Kaleidoscope Urban: Thessaloniki

Katerina Damilos has chosen an amazing sculpture from her hometown of Thessaloniki for the inspiration for her work for Kaleidoscope Urban.  The original installation by George Zongolopoulos, made from stainless steel, reaches 13m in height.  A sculpture with vitality, its mood changes with the weather.  In the winter drizzle the umbrellas stand as a symbol of protection; in the fog they make their mark on the horizon; under the clear sunny sky they seem to play with the sun rays.

SHELTER FROM THE STORM

Necklace, sterling silver, topaz

By Katerina Damilos

I grew up in Thessaloniki, a city in northern Greece.  Built by the sea, the city has a long promenade where all daily life unfolds. 

In 1997, a large art installation with umbrellas was set up on the waterfront, to celebrate Thessaloniki as the cultural capital of Europe.  It instantly became a hit, with thousands of locals and tourists taking snaps and shelfies and sharing on social media.

The Umbrellas installation is now a key identifier of my home town and is the inspiration for my piece.

One of the early composition tests

Development

My idea was to isolate the basic shape of an umbrella, specifically the umbrellas in the installation, which is a rounded decagon, and create a grouping from them, mirroring the view of the sculpture from the bottom to the sky.

The core image

Final dry run, a lariat