Friday, April 9, 2010

future flower: widnes waterfront regeneration





This is Future Flower, a regeneration project for the waterfront at Widnes near the River Mersey in England. The 14 meter-high metal blossom has giant petals of perforated galvanized steel-approx 4 ft long. The giant flower was commissioned as part of the wider Widnes Waterfront environmental uplift and public art program and designed by London architect Tonkin Liu. At night it is powered by LED lights and small wind turbines.

The project is funded by the North West Development Agency as part of a wider Waterfront Regeneration Programme to the clean up of the vacant, polluted riverfront land of Southern Widnes, Cheshire. The program encompasses the regeneration of about 200 acres of former industrial land on the banks of the River Mersey. It will create 1,100 jobs for the local economy with the development of a modern business park environment and associated leisure facilities.

The arrival of the flower signals the beginning of this transformation. It is intended to spur the repopulation of the waterfront by nature, and by people, drawing visitors from the neighbouring Catalyst Museum and Spike Island Visitor Centre eastward on to the trans Pennine Trail.
more here.

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