Icon of the Seas — Whale

2024

Stainless Steel, Aluminium

Interior of a modern shopping mall with a large whale sculpture made of metal and decorative flowers hanging from the ceiling.

Designed by Studio Roso, with engineering from Martin/Martin, Inc. this great 13 meter humpback whale now inhabits The Pearl Cafe, on board Icon of The Seas, one of Royal Caribbean’s largest cruise ships. 

Sector

Cruiseships and Hospitality

location

Cadiz, Spain

client

ICArt for Royal Caribbean

About Project
photo

MDM Middle East

⁠The concept utilises elements inherent to the whale, most prominently the hand-hammered and shaped decorative aluminium barnacles, laid piece by piece into a lace pattern forming the body of the whale.

Manufactured meticulously by our Middle East branch, out of our workshop in Beirut, Lebanon, the whale's internal structure is made from heavy gauge stainless steel tubes and rods, rolled and formed to mimic the whale's skeleton. The bottom side of the whale is formed in longitudinal lines as an accentuation of the ‘grooves of rorqual’, which are the folds that line a whale’s throat from under its mouth to its stomach.

A massive shout-out to Studio Roso for the ingenious concept and design, the meticulous engineering from Martin/Martin, Inc. and ICArt International for curating and trusting us to execute and deliver this artwork for Royal Caribbean.⁠

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