Feats of Engineering

Imagine a structure, built 180 years ago, which then stands empty for 159 years, after which for the next 22 years becomes home to 13 works of art standing up to 9m tall and weighing up to 13,000kg.  

After the initial call to action by Prue Leith back in 1994, five years of hard work ensued to get the project off the ground. This included significant time and effort on the technical planning for the first three very different pieces of art. 

Arup and Associates, the architectural firm that agreed to advise on this, had to gain a separate consent for each of Ecce Homo, Regardless of History and Monument especially as the Plinth was a listed monument.

The sculptures have been fashioned from as wide a range of materials as one could imagine including Italian marble (Alison Lapper Pregnant), resin (Monument),  glass (Model for a Hotel) and empty food cans (The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist). 

Some were bound to this structure (Regardless of History) whilst others perched seemingly precariously at its edge (Ecce Homo). 

Here are some stats that demonstrate just how much of a feat of engineering exhibiting on the Fourth Plinth is.
 

Thomas  Schütte's sculpture was made of coloured glass held up by a steeel frame. Its dimensions were 5m x 4.5m x 5m with a total surface area of 110 metres-squared and weighed  8, 250kg.

Katharina Fritsch’s Hahn/Cock, the ninth sculpture, was 4.57m high and weighed 6,000kg. It was comprised of fibreglass with polyester resin, paint, stainless steel and steel armature.

This replica of an ancient Persian deity stood 4.5m high, was 4.3m long and weighed 6,000kg. It incorporated 10,500 empty Iraqi date syrup cans around a metal frame.