Comedy Carpet

Created by artist Gordon Young, and designed in collaboration with Why Not Associates, the Comedy Carpet is a celebration of comedy on an extraordinary scale. Referring to the work of more than 1,000 comedians and comedy writers, the carpet gives visual form to jokes, songs and catchphrases dating from the early days of variety to the present. Sited in front of Blackpool Tower, the 2,200m2work of art contains over 160,000 granite letters embedded into concrete, pushing the boundaries of public art and typography to their limits.

A remarkable homage to those who have made the nation laugh, it’s also a stage for popular entertainment that celebrates entertainment itself.

The £2.6m Comedy Carpet was commissioned by Blackpool Council as part of the multi-million pound regeneration of the sea front including vital sea defence works. It was funded by CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) as part of it’s Sea Change programme.

Urbanflow Aims To Turn Cities Into Playgrounds For Interactive Infographics

Ever find yourself wandering around a new city (or even one you’re familiar with), and approach one of those handy urban info-kiosks only to find that it’s completely inadequate to the task of telling you where you are, where you might want to go, and what is going on around you? Urbanscale has the same frustration, which is why they teamed up with designers at Nordkapp to design a set of updated public signage called Urbanflow that’s as connected and interactive as the smartphone in your pocket. Here’s their concept video: