Portfolio - Water Sculpture

In 2001, Lloyds Register of Shipping asked Anna Stamatiou to develop a programme of sculpture installations for its headquarters building in the City of London. The installation of Argosy, by William Pye, in the courtyard of the new Richard Rogers building marked the completion of the first phase of that project.

The mirror-polished stainless steel form is freely based on two basic shapes - a hull and greatly elongated keel. The water in the sculpture clings to the overhanging hull form before washing down the vertical surfaces in a series of roll-waves. When it reaches the ground, specially cut marble flags allow it to disappear into the hidden reservoir below, while the white veining in the stone suggests the turbulent surface of the ocean.