'Temenos'

Temenos is found close to Middlesbrough Football Club’s Riverside Stadium and the famous Transporter Bridge. The 21st-century landmark was designed to remember the town’s engineering and industrial heritage.

The giant dual-ringed public art installation was erected in 2010. Thousands of meters of steel wire are woven between the two steel rings to create the 164-foot-high (50 meters) and 360-foot-long (110 meters) sculpture.

The name “Temenos” comes from the Greek term referencing, “a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land dedicated to a god.” Temenos was to be a part of “The Tees Valley Giants” initiative that has been described as the biggest art project in the world. 

Other sculptures were originally planned for Stockton, Hartlepool, Darlington, Redcar, and Cleveland. The other four structures were never formally announced, and in June 2012, it was revealed that plans for them had been put on hold. In May 2018, Stockton Council revealed plans hoping to revive the project, but as of August 2019, nothing has come to fruition.