Chalice (Christchurch)
The Chalice , sometimes Millennium Cone called, is one made of steel and aluminum sculpture on the Cathedral Square in the New Zealand city Christchurch . Together with Christ Church Cathedral, which was demolished after the earthquake, it is the symbol of the city.
The reason for the construction of the "Chalice" was the 150th anniversary of the city of Christchurch and the Canterbury region by the Canterbury Association in 2001.
The work of art was inaugurated on September 10, 2001 when the floodlights were switched on for the first time. The New Zealand artist and sculptor Neil Dawson designed the sculpture. In aluminum he had 42 leaves of native plant species worked into the hexagonal honeycomb steel skeleton. The leaves represent native tree species: Mapou , Kowhai , Mahoe , Totara , Karamu , Titoki , Ngaio , Maratata and Koromiko .
The sculpture creates a connection to Christchurch's nickname "Garden City". The work measures 18 meters in height, 2 meters in diameter at the base and 8.5 meters in diameter across the top. The base rises from a ring made of six segments with a diameter of three meters and made of dark granite. The sculpture is painted blue on the inside and silver on the outside and is illuminated from inside and outside at night.
The prominent Christchurcher architect Peter Beaven called the sculpture "vent to an underground toilet" ("exhaust shaft of an underground toilet").
