What has an old railway arch in Battersea Park and UCL microbiology got in common?

If you have visited Battersea Park recently you may have noticed something interesting going on around Prince of Wales Drive. A brand new work of art by internationally recognised artist Amalia Pica is being installed. It's the result of a fascinating collaboration between Pica and UCL microbiology.

Microscopic Park Life, which was commissioned by St William in association with developer Dallas-Pierce-Quintero, is created from digitally-printed tiles. But here’s the clever part: its subject matter is informed by the teeming patterns of life revealed in samples of water, soil and mud taken by UCL microbiologist Joanne Santini (UCL Division of Biosciences). 

Joanne says: “Microbes are integral to all aspects of our lives. Working with Amalia was great fun and hopefully the installation will show case the wonders of the invisible world.”

Microscopic Park Life will open to the public later this month. Crucially, the installation will be accompanied by a comprehensive learning programme so that local visitors to the park can discover more about the wonders of the microscopic world that exists right under their fingertips.

This is just one way the UCL London Champions are applying the world of UCL to the world in which we live.