Optical Flow
by Lubna Chowdhary, commissioned by Tideway
Artist Lubna Chowdhary was commissioned by Tideway to create a steel artwork for Greenwich Pumping Station. This permanent commission responded to the site-specific narratives outlined in the Tideway Heritage Interpretation Strategy. The cultural theme for the East section, The Shipping Parishes: Gateway to the World, referenced the revolutionary impact of the railway and its social and economic influence.
Lubna’s artwork was inspired by the site’s history of railway signalling. The adjacent railway, part of the London & Greenwich Railway, was London’s first, connecting London Bridge (opened in 1836) to Greenwich (opened in 1838) and serving short-distance intra-urban travel. The railway’s structure featured 851 semi-circular arches and 27 skew arches or road bridges, making it the longest run of arches in Britain and one of the world’s oldest railway viaducts. At Corbett’s Lane, just east of the site, the first-ever fixed signal for controlling a junction was installed.
Designed to be activated by passing trains, Optical Flow’s primary viewpoint is from the railway and the DLR. It is integrated into the access gates of the cladding surrounding the pressure relief and air inlet structure on the shaft. The artwork comprises a 2-metre-diameter white vitreous enamel circular panel.
As trains pass, the circular disc is revealed between deep fins before being concealed again. Its scale and colour make it visible to pedestrians and cyclists using the adjacent Quietway. Boundary treatments have been carefully designed to keep the site as open as possible, preserving views of the listed pumping station while allowing glimpses of the artwork through the fence.
The artwork provides a subtle visual response to the HIS, offering fleeting views rather than dominating the heritage setting. Its scale, proportions, and materials were carefully considered to align with the surrounding structures, including the listed pumping station and nearby residential developments. Modest in scale and integrated into the site, the artwork, conceived for a location without public access, ensures it remains in harmony with its surroundings.
The artist has said: On placing the graphic white disc behind the protruding fins of the ventilation structure a fortunate optical interplay occurred when viewed from the nearby DLR line. The three elements together re-enact a simple visual device which playfully mimics the action of the first metropolitan railway signal.
