Research notes for project planning
What the project record tells us
Madison Square Park installation
The ground plane can carry the experience
City in the Grass extended across Madison Square Park in 2019 as a textured landscape combining towers with a carpet-like ground plane. The commissioner explicitly invited people to walk and rest on its surface. That public-use intention makes the work a useful precedent for commissions in which contact is part of the experience. The design conversation must account for the surface as well as the skyline of the sculpture. How will anticipated bodily use influence material selection, inspection and the host’s interpretation of wear?
Madison Square Park Conservancy — City in the Grass ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefHow will bodily use influence materials, inspection and interpretation of wear?
Big Art Partners planning prompt Yorkshire Sculpture Park chapel
Reuse can be part of a new composition
Yorkshire Sculpture Park explains that much of Number 360 reused material from Drew’s earlier sculptures in a newly configured installation within a historic chapel. This was not simply the relocation of an intact work. Commissioners should record material histories and assembly changes, clarify whether components retain an earlier identity, and agree on which materials may be altered for the new composition.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park — Leonardo Drew teacher notes ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefWhich reused materials may be altered?
Big Art Partners planning prompt On-site fabrication in a historic chapel
A historic interior can demand local assembly
For Number 360, Drew and Yorkshire Sculpture Park technicians built an internal structure and assembled the large installation within the chapel. The institution’s teaching notes describe several weeks of work on site. The interior informed the final form, making installation part of production as well as delivery. Secure the working access and host staffing needed for that assembly period before work begins.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park — Leonardo Drew teacher notes ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefWhat working access and host staffing must be secured?
Big Art Partners planning prompt 
