Giant flower wins Widnes public art contest
Architectural practice Tonkin Liu has won an international design competition to design a new £125,000 piece of public art on Widnes Waterfront in Cheshire.
The brief called for "a dramatic contemporary artwork sympathetic to the ambitions of the Widnes Waterfront and alluding to the environmental and social character and of the region."
The winning proposal, called Future Flower, is 3 metres in diameter, 12 metres in height, wind-powered, with bright yellow Perspex petals that will flutter and light up in the wind. The direction of the wind determines which petals illuminate, resulting in "an ever-changing and dynamic flower".
Anna Liu, director of Tonkin Liu, said: "At this site industry meets nature, with a stunningly beautiful light that reflects off the water and the mud plains. Our proposal catches the light and the wind, and marks a point on the horizon of the River Mersey. The Future Flower also extends our interest in natural geometry and structures that respond to the weather."
Leader of Halton Borough Council, Tony McDermott, welcomed the appointment. He said: "We see this piece, coupled with the extensive public art programme as making a real difference to the locality, demonstrating growth, civic pride and our belief in the area. To the thousands of people that work in the area and the thousands that will view it from other vantage points in Widnes it will hopefully resonate change and an emerging future for the entire borough."
