Rubber Tyre Duck

Today, most "rubber" ducks are made not from rubber but rather vinyl plastic. Regardless of their misleading name, recycled car tyres might be the last kind of rubber one expects a rubber duck to be made from, yet here a giant one humourously stands in the middle of Järntorget square in Örebro, Sweden.

Its creator, Estonian Villu Jaanisoo, is known for making such unique sculptures from tyres and other unconventional materials. In this case, it is partially a nod to Järntorget's past as a parking lot before it again became a pedestrian space. Furthermore, despite the sculpture's modern nature, the various ruts on the tyres are meant to be ironically reminiscent of traditional Baroque architecture, reflecting on how sculpting traditionally occurred.

The original version of this sculpture was in Tampere, Finland until 2020. The first version in Örebro was installed here temporarily in 2013. It proved so popular that Jaanisoo created "Second Rubberduck" specifically for the city. It is bound together by sturdier materials so that it may survive longer in the outdoors.