The square of the Hong Kong Science Museum will resound to music in the upcoming rainy season thanks to a kinetic sculpture named Singing in the Rain.
The piano-shaped sculpture, unveiled yesterday at the start of the museum's 15th anniversary celebrations, consists of bamboo and stainless-steel tubes that pound together in the rain.
It was the winning entry in a 'weather machine' competition that began in 2004, which aimed to combine science, nature and art through sculpture design.
Chief adjudicator Norman Ko Wah-man said kinetic sculptures were not popular in Hong Kong because of strict requirements on both art and science.
'I'm very glad to see that the Science Museum has provided technical support to the artists on this sculpture,' said Professor Ko, chair of fluid dynamics at the University of Hong Kong mechanical engineering department.
The three designers of Singing in the Rain, Jim Chan, Wendy Ng and Wilson Wong, are architects with architectural and engineering firm RMJM.
'It took us more than a year to work on the sculpture and we basically got the idea from Japanese art,' Ms Ng said.