Slipstream is a sculpture by Richard Wilson, created in 2014 for the wholly re-built Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport, London. The large art intervention of aviation relevance was loosely specified, approved and project managed by Mark Davy, founder of the cultural and place-making agency Futurecity for the airport as owner. It is currently the largest privately funded sculpture for a commercial site in Europe.[1] The winning proposal was selected from a shortlist of five international artists.
The sculpture is over 70 metres (230 ft) long and weighs 77 tonnes (76 long tons; 85 short tons).[2] The structural engineers Price & Myers and specialist fabricators Commercial Systems International (CSI) were tasked with making the sculpture.[3]
Wilson's intention is "to transpose the thrill of the air‐show to the architectural environment of the international air terminal".[4]