César Manrique's work has always been about harmony with nature and after the old wind mills started fading from the island, he made every effort to bring back nature to play with his art by coming up with his unique Wind Toys (juguetes del viento) at various roundabouts across the island, and they are truly remarkable and welcoming, like the one you first notice:
1. At the exit of Lanzarote Airport dedicated to Pepin Ramirez, an old friend César, who helped him develop "intelligent tourism" for Lanzarote.
2. A Metal Mobile Sculpture is in the middle of Montana Blanca roundabout, on the road from Tias to San Bartolomé
3. A Wind Sculpture called Fobos is the biggest at 13 meters, situated on the roundabout at Taro de Tahiche.
4. There is one wind sculpture in Arrieta on the road towards Órzola of LZ-1 and LZ-10, which was actually the first one erected on the island.
5. There is a modern art wind mill sculpture in white in the car park of César Manrique Foundation, Taro de Tahiche.
6. There is a pyramid shaped sculpture in the gardens, at the entrance of César Manrique Foundation.
7. There are smaller wind toys which can be spotted near the golf course and Playa Cucharas beach in Costa Teguise.
César Manrique died in 1992, but his sketches kept his dream of a preserved Lanzarote alive, the Cabildo of Lanzarote took his sketches and transformed them into reality and they come to life and harness the power (like what wind mills used to do) when the wind blows.
To fully enjoy César Manrque's Wind Toy sculptures, we recommend going on the Grand Tour run by Excursions Lanzarote, which will cover almost all of the Wind Toys and also other famous sculptures like the Scorpio shaped metal sculpture at Jameos del Agua, another wrought iron sculpture of a fish and a bird, symbolizing the existence of water and air in Lanzarote's landscape at Mirador del Rio, the Monumento del Campesino or Fertility Monument at the Casa del Campesino, a traditional farmer's house imagined by César and a structure at the entrance of Timanfaya National Park.
Do you miss anything in particular when you come to Lanzarote, which you may have back home? Yes you miss the high rise buildings and advertisement hoardings here in Lanzarote, due to continued efforts by César Manrique and the local government, you can see pure natural volcanic landscape cleverly manipulated into piece of artworks. Even the houses here are so colorful and look very traditional, since they use local, Eco-friendly materials.
Lets take a moment to pay our homage to this great man, César Manrique and look at Lanzarote like he used to, a beautiful and untouched island to enjoy.
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