Art and Placemaking Welcomes Guests to Easton’s New Expansion
See how installations by local artists and makers at Easton’s new Urban District in Columbus, Ohio make a place that the community can call their own.
With the new Urban District expansion, the 20-year-old mixed-use retail and lifestyle center, Easton Town Center strengthens its identity as a robust neighborhood within Columbus, Ohio. The developer, Steiner + Associates, brought together a skilled team of local designers and makers to achieve their unique vision for the $500 million expansion.
MKSK, along with local architects Design Collective, Tim Lai ArchitecT, and Bass Studio Architects worked together to design a storied look and feel for the 30-acre site. While some buildings took on a modern aesthetic, others borrowed from the vernacular of Columbus’s Historic German Village and the City’s industrial past. The site design knits the eclectic buildings together with walkable retail streetscapes and three primary public gathering spaces.
Easton’s Urban District was planned as an arts and entertainment district that would showcase unique retail and restaurant concepts as well as the talents of local artists and performers. In line with this concept, the design team engaged Adam Brouillette, a Columbus-based commercial visuals artist, to help develop an art overlay plan for strategizing and implementing art and experiences throughout the Urban District. The final plan described a hierarchy of large, medium, and small installations that would be revealed over time within the district. This strategy would make the creation of art part of the spectacle of the place and keep Easton’s guests excited about what they would discover on the next visit.
The first phase of art includes sculptures by Catherine Bell Smith, Torkworks, and Kobolt Studios, and two murals by Jacob Tanner and Clint Davidson. A third mural by Derrick Hickman features a poem by Barbara Fant. Additional artists contributed small “found art” pieces tucked throughout the public space on buildings and furniture for guests to discover.
The layering of architecture and art make for enchanting public spaces that showcase the talents of Columbus’s artists and designers.
The Urban Hearth was designed by MKSK and fabricated by Torkworks and will help make the Urban District a year-round attraction.
The Bike Arch was designed by MKSK and fabricated by Kobolt Studios. Bike tracks are imprinted in the concrete below, inviting guests through the passageway to discover more art and whimsy.
An umbrella canopy fabricated by Kobolt Studios is a great photo opportunity for Easton’s guests.
The centerpiece of the Urban District is its largest public space, The Yard. The design team created a space that can accommodate large performances with the built-in flexibility to host retail pop-ups, food truck festivals, or smaller public events. The Yard is meant to be a space that can be completely reimagined on a regular basis to keep Easton’s guests coming back again and again. An open lawn area is surrounded by linear public seating with the rambling social steps anchoring the Yard’s south end. To the North, the stage is a true engineering feat and a spectacle in itself – the 60-foot-wide overhead canopy rolls on a track along the open lawn and completely transforms The Yard into a semi-enclosed room. Colorful porch swings are hung from the canopy and rarely go unoccupied since they were installed in summer 2020.
The Yard is the central gathering space in the Urban District, book-ended by the social steps and the stage.
The social steps anchor The Yard to the south and serve as a meeting place, performance space, and a space for guests to recharge their phones.
The playfulness of the new outdoor spaces proved to be exactly what Columbusites needed, and many have been able to experience the district while social distancing. Easton’s Urban District will certainly continue to showcase the talents and vibrancy of greater Columbus, Ohio for years to come.
Colorful porch swings are hung from the movable canopy and rarely go unoccupied since they were installed in summer 2020.