Ventilation Shaft Cover, Pimlico

The Ventilation Shaft Cover in Pimlico is a sculpture created by Eduardo Paolozzi, installed in 1982, likely for an underground car park. It is situated in a public open space between numbers 1 and 2 Bessborough Street.

This high-tech piece features cast steel panels and stainless steel on a thin cast steel plinth. The sculpture stands approximately 12 meters high and consists of four sides of cast panels that rise to about 4 meters. Each panel displays irregularly arranged cast images depicting mechanical parts from various sources, including machinery, aircraft, mechanical diggers, insects, fish, clocks, and geometric shapes in different sizes. The lower panel on the south side bears the cast inscription ‘E.PAOLOZZI/LONDON 1982’.

Above the panels, there are two tanks separated by latticed panels, with exposed rivets. Each tank features louvred panels on the west and east sides and solid panels on the north and south. From the base of the lowest tank, stainless steel pipes extend from each corner to the top of the grilles, while additional pipes of varying diameters are attached to the south and north faces of the lower tank.