 |
The River, locally known as the Floozie in the Jacuzzi, [1] is an artwork in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England.
| |
The River, locally known as the Floozie in the Jacuzzi, [1] is an artwork in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England.
Victoria Square, where The River artwork and water feature is located, was once one of the busiest interchanges in Birmingham. By the mid-1900s, plans were drawn up for the remodelling of Victoria Square in a bid to open up Colmore Row to more cars, but those plans were subsequently quashed. By the 1990s, a completely different set of plans were put in place. [2] An international design competition was held for a central water feature in the square, which was won by Dhruva Mistry. Construction commenced in 1992 and was completed in 1994, when the square was officially reopened by Diana, Princess of Wales.
Further work and renovations were carried out over the next few years, including the installation of a multi-coloured lighting system. Repairs were frequently required, and in autumn 2013 the fountain had to be switched off after a major leak was identified. [3] The fountain later filled with soil and plants in 2015. [4]
Mistry's fountain is the largest sculptural piece in the square. [5] Mistry's winning design for Victoria Square consists of four sets of works (named The River, Guardians, Youth and Object [Variations]), representing youth and eternity. [6] The River features a 1.75-tonne [1] bronze statue of a woman, 2.8 metres (9 ft) tall, 2.5 m (8 ft) wide and 4 m (13 ft) long. The surrounding pool is paved with Wattscliff sandstone. Engraved in the rim of the upper pool by Bettina Furneé are the following words from the poem Burnt Norton by T. S. Eliot: [7]
And the pool was filled with water of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
When active as a fountain, the water in the pool flowed at a rate of 12,000 litres (3,000 gallons) per minute [1] into a lower pool, in which is another bronze sculpture, Youth. This sculpture is 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter, depicting a boy and a girl facing each other at either end of a fountain. Beside them are an egg and a cone. The surrounding lower pool is also paved with Wattscliff sandstone, on the floor of which is a bas-relief of six large salmon. The combination of The River and Youth won a Fountain of the Year award in 1995. [7]
A water leak from the fountain occurred in November 2008 and as a result it was only switched on for special occasions and maintenance. [8] After a £300,000 restoration in 2010 the fountain was turned back on. [9] [10] The work also involved the installation of a new multi-coloured lighting system. [9] After another leak occurred, the water was turned off in 2013 to save costs.
As of 6 July 2015, the main pool was filled with soil and bedding plants and no longer functions as a fountain. [11] In 2021, work began on refurbishing the fountain to full working in order in time for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. On 7 April 2022 the Floozie returned to her base. [12]
On either side of the fountain are two large sculptures collectively known as Guardians. The sculptures – made from the same Darley Dale stone as the Council House [1] – are 3 m (10 ft) high, 2.5 m (8 ft) wide and 5 m (16 ft) long. The sculptures are not identical and take features from a variety of animals. They have been derided in the past for having faces like characters in the children's television series Thomas and Friends . [13] On either side of these sculptures are two obelisk-shaped sculptures collectively known as Object (Variations). The sandstone sculptures are 2 m (7 ft) tall and 0.5 m2 (5 sq ft). The two obelisks were initially refused by the city council, as they were deemed unnecessary; but Mistry – who declined to comment on their meaning [1] – urged the council to reconsider, and they were later approved. They now act as lampstands in the square. [7]
Hyde Park, Sydney, is an urban park, of 16.2-hectare (40-acre), located in the central business district of Sydney, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest public parkland in Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern fringe of the Sydney city centre and is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the southern end and rounded at the northern end. It is bordered on the west by Elizabeth Street, on the east by College Street, on the north by St James Road and Prince Albert Road and on the south by Liverpool Street.
The Hall of Memory is a war memorial in Centenary Square, Birmingham, England, designed by S. N. Cooke and W. N. Twist. Erected 1922–25 by John Barnsley and Son, it commemorates the 12,320 Birmingham citizens who died in World War I.
Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It was named after Brindley Place, the name of the street around which it is built. It was developed by the Argent Group from 1993 onwards.
Victoria Square is a pedestrianised public square in Birmingham, England. It is home to both the Town Hall and the Council House, and directly adjacent to Chamberlain Square. It is named in honour of Queen Victoria.
Floozie in the Jacuzzi may refer to:
Edgbaston Reservoir, originally known as Rotton Park Reservoir and referred to in some early maps as Rock Pool Reservoir, is a canal feeder reservoir in Birmingham, England, maintained by the Canal & River Trust. It is situated close to Birmingham City Centre and is a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation.
Iron:Man is a statue by Antony Gormley, in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. The statue is 6 metres (20 ft) tall, including the feet which are buried beneath the pavement, and weighs 6 metric tons. The statue leans 7.5° backwards and 5° to its left. It is said by the sculptor to represent the traditional skills of Birmingham and the Black Country practised during the Industrial Revolution.
The Chamberlain Memorial, also known as the Chamberlain Memorial Fountain, is a monument in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England, erected in 1880 to commemorate the public service of Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914), Birmingham businessman, councillor, mayor, Member of Parliament, and statesman. An inauguration ceremony was held on 20 October 1880, when Chamberlain himself was present.
Dhruva Mistry is an Indian sculptor.
The King Edward VII Memorial is a sculpture in memory of King Edward VII, relocated from Highgate Park to Centenary Square, Birmingham, England.
Walenty Pytel is a Polish-born contemporary artist based in the United Kingdom, recognised as a leading metal sculptor of birds and beasts.
The Old Steine Gardens in Brighton, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, adjacent to the Old Steine thoroughfare, are the site of several monuments of national historic significance.
George Thomas Noszlopy was a Hungarian-British art historian. Based in England from the 1950s, and the author of several books on the public sculpture of the English Midlands.
Southport War Memorial is in London Square, Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, England. It consists of an obelisk flanked by two colonnades in the form of Greek temples. Outside the colonnades are memorial gardens, each containing a Pool of Remembrance and fountains. The memorial was designed by the local architects Grayson and Barnish, and the carving was executed by Herbert Tyson Smith. It was unveiled in 1923 by the Earl of Derby. Following the Second World War and subsequent conflicts further inscriptions and names have been added. The memorial is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
The Deluge Fountain is a monumental sculpture fountain which has stood with all its elements between 1904 and 1943 and since 2014 in Bydgoszcz. Throughout the first time of its existence and since its rebuilding, the fountain has always been one of the tourist attractions of the city.
The venues for the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be based in Birmingham, Cannock Chase, Coventry, Royal Leamington Spa, Sandwell, Solihull, Warwick, Wolverhampton, and London.
The Malt Shovel is a 2001 sculpture by Andrew Hazell that stands on the corner of High Street and New Street in Burton upon Trent in England. It was commissioned by East Staffordshire Borough Council in 1998 and funded by a National Lottery grant. The sculpture is a representation of a shovel used for malting, part of the brewery process that dominated the town's history. The stainless-steel sculpture stands 9 metres (30 ft) tall and has a bottle-shaped opening in the blade through which people can walk. The sculpture was unveiled amid local controversy over its accuracy and site.
Birmingham Market Hall was a municipal market hall in the Bull Ring area of Birmingham, England, from 1835 until 1940, when the interior and roof were destroyed by wartime bombing; although the shell of the building remained in use until final demolition in the 1960s.
