Campaign for David Bowie Brixton memorial launched

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-39044933

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A crowdfunding campaign to erect a permanent memorial to David Bowie has been launched by a team of south London designers.

The campaign aims to raise just under £1m in the next 28 days to fund the art installation opposite Brixton tube station.

It follows calls for various memorials to be erected to the iconic musician, who died in January 2016.

Thousands of pounds was pledged within hours of the launch of the campaign.

The proposed memorial takes its inspiration from the flash on Bowie's sixth album, Aladdin Sane, which was released in 1973.

Nicknamed the "ZiggyZag", the artists said the blue and red steel memorial would be "embedded in the Brixton pavement" and rise to three-storeys - or nine metres - high.

The proposed site would be five streets from Bowie's Stansfield Road birthplace and next to Jimmy C's internationally-famous Aladdin Sane mural, which has become a focal point for tributes since the artist's death.

Situated on Tunstall Road, opposite Brixton Tube station, it would be likely to be the first thing most visitors to Brixton would see when completed.

The artists worked with Bowie's team in London and New York.

It also has the support of Lambeth Council, which began discussing the possibility of a permanent memorial with Bowie's family last year.

Lambeth Council leader Lib Peck called the proposed memorial "bold and ambitious".

He added: "Brixton has become central to David Bowie's huge legacy, so what better place for this stunning and imaginative memorial to this locally-born legend."

The design team behind the project, This Ain't Rock'n'Roll, previously designed the "Brixton Pound".

The currency, which features David Bowie on it's £10 note, was launched in 2009 to support businesses in the area.