Diary: A momentous memorial

Diary loves a bit of public art enlivening an office environment, enticing busy city workers to glance up from their phones – even better when they have to look way up. So bravo to Tristan Capital Partners and Sterling Property Ventures on the gravity-defying sculpture (pictured) for Birmingham’s soon-to-be complete 103 Colmore Row, the tallest new office building under construction outside of London. This striking work, “Equinox”, dedicated to renowned Modernist sculptor John Pickering, will be suspended around 30ft above the ground in the building’s four-storey colonnade. Described as a “mathematical masterpiece”, it also appears to defy the laws of physics – that’s 1.5 tonnes of solid steel tubes and laser-cut metal sheets overhead. And it will serve as a fitting tribute to one of the West Midlands’ most celebrated artists. Architect Doone Silver Kerr approached Pickering in 2016 with the idea of producing a sculpture that would complement the building, while also enabling him to realise his lifelong ambition of seeing his work produced on a large scale. According to DSK partner Ross Kerr: “Sadly, John passed away during the prototyping of Equinox and before he could see his dream become reality. However, working with George L Legendre, we committed to seeing the project through and in doing so create a legacy for John in a city with which he had a close affiliation.” Imagine that Meanwhile, in Carnaby Street, this newly-arrived artwork is rather more grounded – it’s a life-size depiction of a somewhat Christ-like John Lennon on a bench. Entitled Imagine, for reasons that we hope are obvious, it was unveiled last Saturday on what would have been the musician’s 81st birthday. It’s a brand new location for the piece, sculpted back in 2009 by Lawrence Holofcener, who sadly passed away in 2017. John Lennon (middle) is pictured here with Brian Bickell, CEO of Shaftesbury, and Julia Holofcener, wife of the acclaimed artist. And we’re sure they’ll be far from the last people who grab a chance for a bit of a sit and a photo – if only to join the legendary dreamer, and live as one, for a few minutes at least. Tregoning on and on and on Keen-eyed Diary readers – and aren’t you all – will recall that last week we celebrated London Green’s James Tregoning’s awesome performance during LandAid’s Steptober. Well, at the time of writing, he remains out in front, and the title is his to lose, so we make no apologies for returning to his superhuman endeavours. It was on day 12 of the fortnight-long challenge that he sailed past the 400,000-step mark. How does he do it, you might ask? Doesn’t he have a job to hold down? Well, in another Diary exclusive we can bring you the pic that all the papers wanted – and one that reveals you too can have it all if you’re prepared to walk 15 miles a day while working. So – once you are done donating to the cause (yes, his team is called Steptoeber and Sons and includes none other than EG’s Damian Wild: https://join.landaid.org/fundraisers/SteptoeberSons2021) – set up your desk on a treadmill, and take up the hot new activity for which there can be only one verb: tregoning. Redrow’s winter of content Last week, things were up in the air at Redrow… now it’s all downhill. No, nothing’s wrong in the world of housebuilding – the company has just gone, in the space of seven days, from astounding Diary with its drone wizardry, to impressing us with its support of skiing and snowboarding. Redrow has announced a partnership with GB Snowsport ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in early 2022. According to its group customer and marketing director, Matt Grayson, the partnership is a “meeting of minds” and there is “plenty of crossover” in the views of both organisations on issues such as sustainability and social responsibility. Such synergy can only assist GB Snowsport in its rather ambitious plan for the UK to be a “world top-five snowsport nation by 2030”, despite the country’s conspicuous lack of the white stuff, save for the odd day or two each year.