A city centre building many walk past every day is still surprising visitors with what it means.
But as many people walk past the former Yates's pub every day, people are still learning what the giant circle means. It has recently gained much interest on social media as questions were asked on what it was and why it was there.
Posting on Reddit recently, one social media user wrote: "How did the giant circle on the building on Moorfields come about? It’s like someone used a laser cutter like in Mission Impossible, but mega size!"
READ MORE: Liverpool ONE store to close 'within a matter of weeks'
And dozens of people were quick to comment. One person said: "It used to spin in place" as another commented: "I love how this question comes up on here once every few months." A third added: "I always wondered this. Thanks for asking here!! Now I know!!"
A fourth wrote: "It was an art installation, by Richard Wilson, 'Turning the place over', Liverpool as European Capital of Culture. Very interesting to see."
When Liverpool was European Capital of Culture, a temporary artwork was installed at the former Yates's Wine Lodge. 'Turning the Place Over', created by Richard Wilson, saw an eight meter diameter ovoid cut out of the building fixed on a giant pivot.
One person on the Reddit post reminisced: "Got off the train at Moorfields and stood underneath this back when it was still turning, while I was looking down at my phone trying to find an address for a job interview. I wasn’t aware what this was at the time, but it’s quite alarming to say the least when your peripheral vision tells you the front of the building your literally standing under suddenly starts pitching forward, as though it’s falling on you."
When the ovoid, which weighed 26-tonnes, rotated and offered a glimpse into three floors of the building. The artwork was only supposed to be on display for one year, but kept turning until 2011 due to the phenomenal response.
At the time Richard Wilson said he hoped it could be switched back on or find a permanent home elsewhere. He told the ECHO: "I came up with the idea in 2004 or 2005. I saw Lewis Biggs, director of the Liverpool Biennial and said 'I've had this fantastic idea, it would be great to do it in Liverpool'."
Turning the Place Over cost £450,000, with Liverpool Culture Company paying £150,000, and was described as “the most daring piece of public art ever commissioned in the UK”. It became a major part of Liverpool's Capital of Culture public arts programme, stunning visitors and passers-by and became a YouTube star even before it launched.
At the time Lewis Biggs, director of Liverpool Biennial, said it would be "remembered and celebrated for as long as people’s jaws are capable of dropping" - and Mr Wilson said it had not been forgotten. He said: "I still get people from around the world, curators, people from magazines, people writing books, requesting photos.
"It was a very powerful piece. It took the derelict and the forlorn and forgotten and written off during that year and showed how the power of art can transform it."
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
READ NEXT:
Mum stabbed her husband in chest after trip to Costco
Man doused girlfriend's bed in turpentine and set it on fire as she lay in it
People can get a week in Lake District cottage for £77
'Middle man' in drug trade identified by pictures of girlfriend's dachshund Dennis
