Check Out This Gaudy Inflatable Sculpture In Broadgate

M@
By M@ Last edited 79 months ago

Looks like this article is a bit old. Be aware that information may have changed since it was published.

Last Updated 15 September 2017

Check Out This Gaudy Inflatable Sculpture In Broadgate

As far as we know, Nicholas Hawksmoor never designed a bouncy castle. If the Christchurch Spitalfields architect had turned his hand to inflatables, he might have come up with something like this riot of arches, columns and upturned pediments.

The playful installation is the work of Camille Walala. Like the building she painted on nearby Old Street and her maze in Greenwich the inflatable structure and its surroundings are a medley of bold colours and stripes.

The artist beside her work, courtesy of British Land.
And here's one we sneakily took of her, just before the opening.

The sculpture can be found in Exchange Square, just behind Liverpool Street Station. It was commissioned by British Land, part-owners of Broadgate, as part of the 2017 London Design Festival.

We're not sure how to interpret the rest of the sculpture, but the corner figures make us think "Oh crap, Bertie Bassett has escaped from jail again".

Visitors can walk around or through the sculpture, and even sit and eat their lunch on the periphery. Sadly, you cannot bounce on it.

The work is so eye-catching that even the heads-down phone zombies of the Square Mile are unlikely to pass by without giving it a glance. Our toddler will love it.

Like a cubist McDonald's.

Villa Walala, as it's called, will remain in Exchange Square until Sunday 24 September.