Wind Tree

Set in Jellicoe Plaza and close to the Waitematā Harbour, this much-loved, modernist stainless steel sculpture has a timelessness that visitors of all ages enjoy. Viewers see different aspects as they move around the work, also mirrored in the water below. And in summer there are often children laughing and splashing beneath the sculpture, as light is reflected up through the metal trusses.

Designed to move and swing with the wind, the design was developed in Auckland by Japanese-American architectural sculptor Michio Ihara, during the 1971 International Sculpture Symposium. The initial design proved too expensive to produce, so Ihara redesigned it on his return to the United States.

After six years of negotiating, fundraising and a change of location (originally intended for the Auckland Domain), Wind Tree was finally installed in Queen Elizabeth Square in 1977. It stayed there for 25 years and became an iconic part of the inner city, until it had to be carefully taken apart and put into storage in 2002 to make way for the Britomart Rail Station redevelopment and square upgrade. Then in 2011 Wind Tree found a new home, as a central point in the new Wynyard Quarter development, standing over a shallow pool designed by Wraight Associates Ltd and Taylor Cullity Lethlean.