The Moscow Times reported that, shortly after the opening of the rink on Lenina Square, aerial pictures shot by camera-toting drones of the brilliant blue-lit ice began to circulate on Facebook.
From above, the rink—which is located in front of Novosibirsk’s ballet and opera theater and capped by a brightly lit Christmas tree—resembles nothing more closely than the infamous iridescent blue appendage of the Dr. Manhattan character in HBO’s Watchmen.
It wasn’t long before Russians began to razz the rink on social media. Journalist Yuri Dud posted a picture of the rink on his Instagram, commenting “This is the power of Siberia!”
Whether the town selected the phallic shape of the ice rink intentionally is still unclear.
According to the Moscow Times, Novosibirsk Vice-Mayor Anna Tereshkova defended the rink’s turgid form, saying in a Facebook post that “real art should be arousing” and proclaiming that the phallic rink would not be dismantled or modified before winter’s end. Her post has amassed hundreds of comments both positive and negative, with one wag saying “The rink urgently needs to be named Putin.”
According to the news agency of the Eurasian Women’s Community, Tereshkova was previously the head of Department of Culture, Sports, and Youth Policy in Novosibirsk. She has made the news for ambitious plans to make the Siberian city a center for progressive modern art and culture.
Accidental penises have been the bane of architects for some time. In 2013, worshippers at the Christian Science Church in Dixon, Illinois, looked at their new church on Google Earth for the first time only to be shocked at how much the building’s footprint resembled a phallus, reported the Sauk Valley News. Church administration claimed that the building’s unusual curved shape was designed to preserve a large oak tree on the property.
A 2017 article in U.K. newspaper The Sun catalogued multiple instances of penis-shaped swimming pools around the world. That cheeky shape conveniently accommodates both wide, shallow areas where children can play and a long, deeper area for lap swimming.
