What makes a vibrant modern city? The best urban neighbourhoods have a winning combination of beautiful buildings and public spaces that deliver a spirit-lifting boost. However, while many cities are adept at creating impressive buildings, creating a sense of place, a living environment for those buildings and the people who use them, requires far more than cutting-edge engineering. At Canary Wharf, London’s waterfront district, architecture, design and art have been crucial components from the outset.

“In designing Canary Wharf we were clear that we were not creating simply a set of buildings but rather something new and totally different to anything else in London,” explains Sir George Iacobescu CBE, Chairman of Canary Wharf Group and a continuous presence at Canary Wharf since the 1980s. “As developers we know we can build buildings, that’s the easy part. It is much harder to build a community, to incorporate residential, retail, thoughtful art and community events, nurseries, open spaces, businesses, innovation and so on in order to create somewhere people feel comfortable. It requires extraordinary attention to detail.”

For Sir George, creating a purpose-built commercial and now also residential district able to compete on the global stage meant placing public art at the very centre of its operation. He believes that art strengthens the connections between people and places, creating a sense of place and belonging.

Today Canary Wharf is home to London’s largest collection of free to visit outdoor public art, over 75 pieces, featuring stand-alone sculptures, integrated architectural works and dramatic light installations. They are carefully curated – “we work as a team to select them, it is a consensus on beauty,” says Sir George - and together form a rollcall of modern artistic talent.

Sir George highlights several sculptures that for him represent important steps in the history of modern art. Henry Moore’s Draped Seated Woman, affectionately nicknamed ‘Old Flo’, was originally displayed in East London in the 1960s. After a twenty-year break in Yorkshire, a successful tender from Canary Wharf to look after ‘Old Flo’ for the local community saw the 2.5 metre bronze rehoused in Cabot Square at the centre of the Estate.

Secondly, he points to Fortuna in Jubilee Park, a bravura bronze by sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld OBE that exerts a near magnetic appeal to Canary Wharf’s workers and visitors who congregate around it. Then there is the hard-edged work of Julian Wild, the newly added curvaceous mirrored steel of Richard Hudson and three monumental works by Igor Mitoraj offering a contemporary take on classical themes.

“Art is in our DNA at Canary Wharf and we have ensured it is fully integrated into the built environment,” Sir George says. “For me, everything is art, not just sculptures and paintings. The view of Canary Wharf rising up over Greenwich. The established trees selected with great care and brought over from Germany. The magnificent gates at Westferry Circus, beautiful steel and bronze sculptural railings designed by Giuseppe Lund, the water cascades in Jubilee Park and even the curved granite steps on Cabot Place Fountain. It is all art.”

Canary Wharf’s public art has won international awards from Christie’s for Best Corporate Art Collection and Programme and from International Arts & Works Awards for outstanding contribution to Art in the Working Environment.

Canary Wharf’s Arts & Events programme offers a year round diverse and culturally rich events programme. The award-winning Winter Lights festival alone brought 400,000 visitors to the Estate over ten days in 2019.

In the last year, events have been disrupted but last September saw the first London Mural Festival with French artist Camille Walala – described as a “purveyor of positivity” for her vibrant street art – transform Adams Plaza Bridge on the Estate. Visitors this summer can picnic beside Morag Myerscough’s Sun Pavilion, a vibrant installation radiating “energy and joy” or enjoy free access to a unique basketball court designed by artist Yinka Ilori, the bold design calling on his British-Nigerian heritage. Meanwhile, Looking Up, the largest solo exhibition to date by Helaine Blumenfeld OBE, has been extended until November 2021.

“The opportunity to exhibit my sculpture in Canary Wharf is in many ways, the culmination of efforts I’ve made throughout my career to bring sculpture into public spaces where it can affect people in their daily lives,” says Helaine. “I hope my sculptures will offer those who visit Canary Wharf the opportunity to look up and see the world that surrounds them, elevating their spirits and creating a shared sense of community.”

An aim that mirrors that of Sir George and Canary Wharf when the cultural masterplan was set over thirty years ago and is now a 24/7 sustainable city where people work, live and play.