To celebrate Bullring’s 20th birthday, eight West Midlands artists have created their Bullring & Grand Central of the future, visually bringing to life how the iconic destination may look in two decades’ time.
Bullring & Grand Central collaborated with Birmingham Design Festival to tap into the minds of the region’s best creatives including animators, architects and illustrators to design striking pieces of digital art.
The celebratory milestone comes amid a transformative year for Bullring & Grand Central as Hammerson continues to enliven the destination by introducing exciting new concepts, leading brands and partnerships to excite and engage customers. The artwork reflects this forward-thinking approach with some surprising twists including mythological, futuristic and retro-futurism interpretations.
Danielle Bozward, Marketing Manager at Bullring & Grand Central, said: “Over the last two decades, Bullring has become an iconic landmark in Birmingham and played a significant role in the city’s culture, identity and economic growth. Bullring and Grand Central has been a big champion of and created a platform for local artists and creatives, so it made sense to work with Birmingham Design Festival to reimagine Bullring of the future.
As a destination we are continually evolving to meet the needs of the city, our visitors and our community. This project has been a fantastic opportunity for us to work with exceptional local artists and showcase their interpretation of Bullring’s journey.”
Cherie Kwok is an illustrator with a visual language inspired by her cultural connections to Hong Kong, jazz music and nature. When envisaging a future Bullring, Kwok imagined a space full of vibrant community and life, where there is more greenery and nature for visitors to enjoy and nurture.
Kwok added a vegetable and herb garden for Bullring & Grand Central’s restaurants to use, turning food waste in to compost for future produce.
Spaceplay, a small design studio that works to inspire pride and love in Modernist and Brutalist heritage.
Spaceplay’s visual portrays a cast concrete model of the Brutalist Bullring in the year 2123.
The piece forms the 641st mini concrete model created by Spaceplay, paying homage to the beautiful Brutalist structure and blending heritage appreciation with artistic exploration and expression.
Ravnita Rayet is a West Midlands-based illustrator, animator and designer who has previously worked with the likes of Nike, Harvey Nichols and Timberland.
Rayet’s piece is named ‘The Takeover’ and is a digital illustration of the city of Birmingham, with a futuristic twist. The design taps into the retro vapourware aesthetic and the ‘Bull’ represents Birmingham’s everlasting heart and history.
Mazahir Hussain merges passions for mythology and fairy tales with visual arts to create their artwork. Hussain’s piece takes the old Bullring into consideration, with a retro futurism angle applied.
The design has a strong focus on green energy and community building. The artist claims that they can see the future of Bullring & Grand Central being one of sustainability and art focus.
Jim Howells, a BATFA-winning graphic artist and animator with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, named his piece ‘Plaza 3023’.
Howells was inspired by Retrofuturism, taking design cues from brutalist architecture and retro science fiction magazines of the 1960s and 1970s, and marrying them with retail architecture from the 2000s.
‘Plaza 3023’ uses a prismatic colour palette to reflect Birmingham’s wide gamut of culture and history.
Giovanni Uche is a Nigerian-born British illustrator and animator who saw this project as an opportunity to explore the possible future of Solar Punk, living in and among nature, while still retaining the visual of today’s Bullring & Grand Central.
Inspired by the destination’s open-roofing, Uche felt that the interior provided an ideal space for a ‘life-giving tree’ to create the centre of the piece. The artist describes the piece as “a convergence between human and alien plant life, with a utopic balance all around.”
Cherie Kwok is an illustrator with a visual language inspired by her cultural connections to Hong Kong, jazz music and nature. When envisaging a future Bullring, Kwok imagined a space full of vibrant community and life, where there is more greenery and nature for visitors to enjoy and nurture.
Kwok added a vegetable and herb garden for Bullring & Grand Central’s restaurants to use, turning food waste in to compost for future produce.
Amrutha C Raj, an architect from India, has a passion for green spaces and how they enhance quality of life and foster sustainability. The design is called ‘Greening the Heart of Birmingham: The Bullring for the Future Initiative’ and represents a visionary step forward in urban development.
Raj’s interpretation of the future Bullring imagines a destination which creates a healthier, more vibrant, and sustainable city centre that not only benefits the environment, but also enhances the well-being and quality of life for Birmingham’s residents.