A controversial penis-shaped sculpture in Auckland was the "less phallic" version, says the upset artist behind it.

Gregor Kregar, who designed the Auckland Council-funded Transit Cloud sculpture, says early in the process a council member raised concerns that it looked like a penis.

"We modified it to make it look less phallic," he says of West Auckland's new claim to fame.

The artist's work lit up.

That the $200,000 piece has bemused locals after its erection comes as a surprise to Kregar.

"I recently had an exhibition with more than 200 people and not one of them mentioned that it looked phallic," he says.

Kregar, who has been working on the project for two-and-a-half years, says it's not finished and the additional lights will make it less phallic.

Alternatively, if you view it from the New Lynn train station or library it apparently looks less phallic.

"People enjoy mentioning this stuff, I think. Technically anything can be phallic – a tree, a lamp post.

"I've studied art and drawing for many years and I never came across a phallus made out of thousands of triangles that was six metres long."