The Lotus Sculpture was this year’s car-themed structure for the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed, held in the grounds of the Goodwood Estate in the English county of Sussex. By tradition, every year major car brands sponsor a centerpiece sculpture that captures the spirit and essence of that year’s chosen car maker. This time the new work for auto-enthused is a dynamic edifice to British manufacturer of sports and racing cars Lotus Cars, a centerpiece of epic proportions designed by artist and sculptor Gerry Judah. Having worked on sculptures for Ferrari, Jaguar, Porsche, Audi, Renault, Honda, Ford, Rolls-Royce, and Toyota since 1997, Gerry Judah’s creations for the Goodwood Festival of Speed are towers of horsepower.
Judah’s Lotus Sculpture walks a line between art, architecture and advertising. It’s an enourmous three dimensional artwork tied into the shape of a half-hitch, trefoil or knot, where six classic Lotus Formula 1 cars were driving on the continuously variable curve developable surface. The spectacular structure features flat sheet metal curves which makes it lightweight, extremely strong and a rigid thin-shell with 98% empty space inside it. In automobile terms this would be a monocoque body, a tribute to the legendary designer and Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s introduction of monocoque chassis construction to automobile racing.
Photos: © David Barbour.
Project details:
Client: Lotus Cars
Design and Production: Gerry Judah
Engineering: Capita Symonds
Fabrication & Installation: Littlehampton Welding