Karangahape Road Fountain

As life at the busy intersection of Karangahape Road and Symonds Street moves around them, two figures sit with their faces raised to the sun. Cast in bronze, the life-sized figures have been part of Pigeon Park since 1969. They sit among three abstract disc forms inspired by rocks shaped by water in riverbeds and along foreshores.

Twiss incorporated a seat within the largest form and cut openings into all three forms. These openings create changing views through the sculpture and connect it to its surroundings. Light and shadow shift across the work throughout the day. Over time, the bronze has developed the green patina typical of weathered bronze. The sculpture spans almost five metres and sits within a circular brick setting that reinforces the geometry of the composition.

Greer Twiss was a pioneer of cast-metal sculpture in New Zealand, and Karangahape Road Fountain was his first public commission. He conceived the work as both sculpture and fountain, with water flowing through channels incorporated within the bronze forms rather than through conventional fountain sprays. Mayor Dove-Myer Robinson officially switched on the fountain in April 1969.