A new art installation called Fordite by Douglas Coupland has been unveiled at Station Square in Metrotown, Burnaby.

The art installation, which is the first Coupland piece to join Metrotown’s growing public art collection, nods to the site’s transformation from a former Ford Motor Company assembly plant that existed on the site between 1938-1988 into the award-winning mixed-use residential development, Station Square.

“For the Station Square site I created stacks of polished fordite gems that are deliberately bold to remind people in a jubilant way that we once, not even long ago, lived in a world where car colours were used as they still are in fashion, to hasten a vehicle’s shortened lifespan and to build expectation for newer and more differently coloured cars,” says Douglas Coupland.

Coupland’s installation, which includes four separate pieces, the tallest of which reaches 50 feet, is designed to look like the gemstone-like material that is created through the buildup and hardening of automotive paint slag, called fordite. The installation sits at the intersections of McKay Ave and Kingsway and Kingsborough St and Silver Dr, outside of Station Square’s final two towers, 6000 McKay and 6080 McKay.

“It is fitting, that what was once a car factory, then a vacant lot, then a strip shopping centre, and now the modern urban village of Station Square – a comforting place for thousands of people’s daily use – is symbolically graced by this amazing piece by Douglas Coupland,” says Eric Carlson, CEO, Anthem. “Fordite is something new and creative, made from what was before, stimulating the senses and appreciation for both the esthetic and the idea of renewal. It is a bold signature, finalizing this significant development, created in partnership between Anthem and Beedie.”