THE ROWE (EXTERNAL), 2022

Artists
YINKA ILORI

Medium
VITREOUS ENAMEL

Client
FRASERS PROPERTY

WHITECHAPEL, LONDON

Designed by AHMM, The Rowe is a 165,500 sq ft creative office development in the heart of Whitechapel, featuring an 8,000 sq ft roof garden and private terraces on every floor.

Curatorial Intent

The Rowe presented an extraordinary canvas for public art. AHMM’s transformation of the former London Metropolitan School of Art, Architecture and Design, inspired by Rachel Whiteread’s Monument for the Fourth Plinth, placed six new storeys above the original 1960s building. At the threshold between old and new, the expansive sixth-floor balcony offered a highly visible architectural canvas for a bold, site-specific commission.

Yinka Ilori’s concept was selected for its powerful connection to place, weaving together Whitechapel’s textile heritage, the colour and energy of East London’s markets and the artist’s British-Nigerian heritage. The commission held particular resonance for Ilori, who had previously studied within the building when it was home to The Cass School of Art.

The resulting work, Joyful Sky, brings these overlapping histories together through Ilori’s distinctive language of colour and pattern. Conceived as an invitation to look up, the installation transforms the balcony into an open-air gallery, embedding contemporary art into the architecture while celebrating the communities and creative legacy of East London.