After working in the 1970s on large weathering/steel projects, which were designed to give new meaning to contemporary urban areas, the sculptor Toni Benetton started investigating the relationships between art, architecture and urban planning. He did this in his "Townscapes", a series of designs which, in the end, never got off the drawing board. The interaction they created between the surrounding buildings went beyond the traditional urban syntax, which was based on a mere juxtaposition of volumes, and instead brought about interconnections between the various parts, giving new meaning to the places of everyday social life.