Nike partners with artist Kaws to create bold and beautiful New York basketball courts
– Kaws
Sports giant Nike has partnered with artist Kaws to cover two of New York’s community basketball courts with his signature murals.
Located in Sara D. Roosevelt Park on Manhattan’s Stanton Street, the side-by-side full courts have been painted with swirling, brightly-coloured patterns and motifs.
“My approach to the courts was very similar to how I would work on canvas,” said Brooklyn-based Kaws, whose real name is Brian Donnelly. “I wanted to create something that was true to my language, but also considerate of this being a court that people are playing on.
“I wanted to find the sweet spot where it works visually and functionally – how it’s broken up by the game’s lines and works with my images. It will have an intimate effect on the players that use the court.”
Nike has partnered with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for the project, which is part of a larger campaign called New York Made. The company said it wants to “elevate sport, culture and community through innovative collaborations” in the city.
Kaws claimed public art and design projects are key to engaging with local communities.
“I always think about when I was young and the things I had interaction with, whether it was skateboard graphics or magazines, and how art reached me,” he said. “I’ve been conscious of how my work disseminates and reaches people. It could be a canvas in a museum, or it could be a court, a wall or a t-shirt.
“I like the idea of public art because it reaches people in a casual way, and when they aren’t necessarily looking for it.”
Art and street basketball have mixed before, notably in Paris, where fashion brand Pigalle and architecture firm Ill-Studio recently created a vivid multicoloured basketball court squeezed between two apartment buildings.
Nike Kaws Stanton Street design piublic art basketballEurope's premier Evian Spa unveiled at Hôtel Royal in France
Clinique La Prairie unveils health resort in China after two-year project
GoCo Health Innovation City in Sweden plans to lead the world in delivering wellness and new science
Four Seasons announces luxury wellness resort and residences at Amaala
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Aman sister brand Janu launching in Tokyo in 2024 with design by Denniston's Jean-Michel Gathy
From flooding old shopping malls to revolutionising housing, MVRDV’s founders like to do things differently