Nick Hancock wins Spitfire memorial competition
Designer Nick Hancock has won a competition to design a Battle of Britain Spitfire fighter plane monument in Southampton, where the plane was first built.
The public competition, which has been organised by the Spitfire Tribute Foundation and backed by The Sunday Telegraph, will see Hancock’s memorial built on the waterfront of Southampton.
Hancock’s design features a 40m-long polished steel Spitfire replica with a mast inspired by the plane’s vapour trail. The challenge was to create a mast that would not tie the craft to the ground, says Hancock.
He adds, ‘We wanted it to have an incredible sense of movement. The plane had to be the focal point, not the mast.
‘The most important thing was that it felt like it was flying and was completely uninhibited.’
Hancock’s design was chosen from more than 200 entries by a panel of judges including members of the Spitfire Tribute Foundation and a group of designers and engineers.
The foundation is currently raising funds for the memorial, which it is hoped will be completed by the end of next year, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the fighter plane’s first test flight.
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All is not what it seems with this competition result.
Hancock won whilst not even being on the shortlist! His design was introduced at a late stage (after shortlisters submitted more details at the request of the organisers). Other designers and architects are among the shortlisted entrants, of which I am one.
My design can be viewed here:
http://bit.ly/aBJ0HD
while the controversy rages here:
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8621985.Unveiled__Spitfire_tribute_winner/
It’s a disgrace and what designers perpetually live in fear of.