The BBC has unveiled plans for a sculpture inspired by Winston Churchill to mark the statesman's victory in the Great Briton's series.
Churchill, Britain's leader in World War II, won the BBC Two series to find Britain's greatest figure, which was voted for by the public in 2002.
Paul De Monchaux's abstract sculpture Song will tour the country as a memorial to the wartime leader.
Once built, it will be housed in a one of the BBC's London buildings.
Song will be a freestanding timber tower made from 20 interlocking units of sawn green English oak heartwood.
De Monchaux said he was inspired by Churchill's use of poetry and song structures in preparing his wartime speeches.
'Unanimous choice'
Churchill's speech drafts were typed from shorthand notes in what he called Psalm Style - blocks of indented text, stepping diagonally down the page.
The finished drafts were known as Hymn Sheets.
"I first saw the speech drafts in the archive of the Imperial War Museum," the artists said, "and was struck by Churchill's awareness of the way in which the shape of the spaces around words can amplify their meaning."
De Monchaux was chosen from a shortlist of five artists.
"Paul de Monchaux was a unanimous choice by the selection panel," said BBC Arts creative director Mark Harrison.
"We were all immediately engaged by Paul's response to the layout of Churchill's speeches on paper and the way in which he had translated this into a three dimensional form," he said.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©