Wooden hippo makes temporary home on Thames

Hippopo Thames is a 21m-long sculpture created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman for the Totally Thames festival this month. He decided on a hippo after learning that the creatures once inhabited the Thames.

The artwork is an entirely wooden structure, comprising a plywood frame overlaid with 6mm strips of larch and Douglas fir. The towing points at front and rear are reinforced with 18mm ply.

Mr Hofman has used timber for some of his previous large-scale sculptures and he told TTJ he chose it for this project because it reflected the river's history of wooden boats and the image of driftwood floating on water.

"I like the aesthetics of wood. It grabs people's attention in public spaces because of its beauty and the craftmanship," he said.
The face and ears of the hippo are painted, while the bulk of the sculpture has a clear finish which, Mr Hofman said, makes "the wood shine like gold in the sun".

Mr Hofman is known for his scaled-up sculptures including Rubber Duck, a huge yellow duck which has been travelling to major cities around the world since 2007.

Hippopo Thames will be moored at Nine Elms in London until September 28.