--- description: Along London's River Thames are some notable landmarks: the London Bridge, the Millennium Bridge, and now, a giant floating hippo. title: Giant Hippo Splashes Into River Thames image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d6c4aa97b740c84/6986a1a5cd804dbe69ccc943/florentijn-hippo-7523.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Giant Hippo Splashes Into River Thames  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 2, 2014 3:53 PM CUT  Steve Stills  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 2, 2014 3:53 PM CUT Along London’s River Thames are some notable landmarks: the London Bridge, the Millennium Bridge, and now, a giant floating hippo. The nearly 70-foot-long replica of the water mammal—named “HippopoThames”—is the latest project of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, [according to _CNN._](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/02/travel/duck-man-london-hippo/index.html "undefined") The work was commissioned by the Thames Festival Trust, which had approached Hofman earlier this year to design artwork for Totally Thames, an annual festival celebrating the river. Hofman, who debuted the [“world’s largest rubber duck”](http://time.com/3153925/giant-rubber-duck-los-angeles/ "undefined") last month, is known for his [humor, sensation and maximum impact,](http://www.florentijnhofman.nl/dev/content/info/files/information%5Fabout%5Fflorentijn%5Fhofman.pdf "undefined") In line with his artistic vision, HippopoThames was inspired by everyday objects, especially those that time warp people to their childhoods. It’s also designed to force viewers to appreciate public spaces, even after the installations are removed. “I wanted to use the hippo to get people out of their homes, away from the Internet and the TV, and to explore London with a new perspective,” Hofman told _CNN_. HippopoThames will be on display until Sept. 28. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3256724/hippo-in-river-thames/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3256724/hippo-in-river-thames/"},"headline":"Giant Hippo Splashes Into River Thames","datePublished":"2014-09-02T15:53:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:12:55.334Z","description":"The artist's latest creation following his giant floating rubber duck","url":"https://time.com/3256724/hippo-in-river-thames/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Bizarre","Appreciation","World"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d6c4aa97b740c84/6986a1a5cd804dbe69ccc943/florentijn-hippo-7523.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d6c4aa97b740c84/6986a1a5cd804dbe69ccc943/florentijn-hippo-7523.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Giant Floating Hippo River Thames","caption":"Giant Floating Hippo River Thames","creditText":"Steve Stills","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3256724/hippo-in-river-thames/","name":"Giant Hippo Splashes Into River Thames"}}]}] ```