Christo created a temporary sculpture in Hyde Park, London, titled The London Mastaba, Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, 2016-18. It was floating on the Serpentine Lake from June 18 to September 23, 2018. This was Christo's first major public, outdoor work in the UK. The temporary sculpture coincided with an exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work (June 19 to September 9, 2018), which included sculptures, drawings, collages and photographs spanning more than 60 years. The sculpture and the exhibition both drew on Christo and Jeanne-Claude's history of using barrels to create works of art.

Since the late 1960s, Christo had sought a suitable site for a floating Mastaba. The temporary sculpture in Hyde Park consisted of 7,506 horizontally stacked barrels on a floating platform in the Serpentine Lake. It was 20 meters (65.5 ft) high x 30 meters (90 ft) wide (at the 60° slanted walls) x 40 meters (130 ft) long. The standard 55 gallon barrels, 59 x 88 cm (2 ft x 3 ft), were specifically fabricated and painted for this sculpture. The sides of the barrels, visible on the top and on the two slanted walls of the sculpture, were painted red and white. The ends of the barrels, visible on the two vertical walls, were different hues of red, blue, and mauve.

The sculpture's floating platform was made of high-density polyethylene cubes anchored to the lakebed with weighted anchors. A primary steel scaffolding frame was constructed on top of the platform and the Barrels were attached to a scaffold sub structure. The total weight was 600 metric tons (660 US tons). The footprint of the sculpture took up approximately 1% of the total surface area of the lake.

As with all of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's projects, The London Mastaba, Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, 2016-18 was funded entirely through the sale of Christo's original works of art. No public money is used for Christo's projects and he does not accept sponsorship.

‍