Gerry Judah’s Mazda tower twists & rises over Goodwood’s 2015 Festival of Speed
Photography: David Barbour
This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed featured the usual array of distinct, performance minded exotics. With cars as priority one the English based event draws thousands of visitors from around the world – some more bent on courting with hay than others across the short but technically tricky timed event. And as the cars change each year, so does the iconic sculptural tower that greets guests.
Designed for Goodwood by legendary artist, Jerry Judah, this year’s sculptural tower had Mazda in the role of featured automotive manufacturer. Rising 40 meters over Goodwood the 2015 tower features “720 steel beams of varying length and juxtaposition seamlessly swell, slim and fold the structure from right to left, cantilevering the cars high over the spectators below.”
As with each sculpture, famous automotive tidbits populate the tower in strategic formation. Topping off the twisting tower this year is Mazda’s rotary-engined 787B Le Mans winner with a LM55 Vision Gran Turismo concept following closely behind in the other lane.
In total the sculpture uses over 120 tonnes of custom cut steel sections, that according to Gerry Judah is his most complex and sophisticated Goodwood sculpture to date. The Centrepiece is designed to celebrate Mazda Motor Corporation’s “unique motorsport heritage with a powerful fusion of sculptural innovation and engineering precision.”
Client: Mazda
Design: Gerry Judah
Engineering: Capita
Fabrication / Installation: Littlehampton Welding
Source: Gerry Judah
