Rassambleu
Rassambleu is the largest integrated public art project created under the auspices of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority’s percent for art program. Bressi, working for developer Property Reserve International, helped PRI recruit and select artist Cliff Garten and win approval from the City for Garten’s artistic concept.
Date | 2019
Client | Property Reserve International
Collaborators | Via Partnership
Rassambleu is an artist-designed open space that serves as a public passageway and entry courtyard to the Alexander apartment building, at 1601 Vine Street in Philadelphia.
The $3 million project was at the time the largest single commission ever undertaken under the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority’s (PRA) percent for art program. The artist was Cliff Garten.
Bressi served as art consultant for Property Reserve International (PRI), the developer and owner of the project, collaborating with Via Partnership’s Emily Blumenfeld. In that capacity, he worked closely with PRI, its design team, and the PRA’s Fine Arts Committee to define the scope and goals of the integrated project, particularly its use as a public open space and its integration into the site’s stormwater management system, and to create an artist selection process that took into account the unique nature and magnitude of the project. With Blumenfeld, he led an international search for artists to take on the commission, facilitated the selection of a short list of six artists, and coordinated site visits and interviews with all the artists.
Through this process, Bressi was able to help arrive at a public art strategy and artist selection that achieved the goals of the owner, the designer, and the PRA. Garten, highly experienced at projects that meld landscape, water, and urbanism, managed the design and construction project, while Bressi maintained liaison with the PRA.
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