Parsons' Polygon,Blackett Street, Newcastle upon Tyne

Relief sculpture, 1982-85, designed by David Hamilton, commissioned by Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive to clad a concrete ventilation shaft for an underground Metro tunnel.

DESCRIPTION: the sculpture is free-standing on the N pavement of Blackett Street. It stands approximately 3m (9.8ft) high and is hexagonal in plan. The surface is covered in orange-brown terracotta tiles of differing sizes and shapes with a slightly rough, hand-finished texture. At the base is a chamfered plinth covered in small tiles. Above the plinth the six vertical faces all have relief mouldings of abstracted machinery parts taken from Parsons’ engineering drawings. The deeper, lower panels depict two alternating images of an abstracted cog and machine part and the narrower, upper panels depict two similar machine parts which also alternate. The upper sections of the six faces have offset ventilation louvres partially formed from stacks of abstracted machine parts. The sculpture has a hexagonal pointed roof of small tiles with ridge tiles to the angles.

The below-ground functional elements of the ventilation shaft do not form part of the List entry.

MAPPING NOTE: the location of the sculpture is approximate.