ArcelorMittal Orbit
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The ArcelorMittal Orbit (often referred to as the Orbit Tower or its original name, Orbit) is a 114.5-metre (376-foot) sculpture and
Orbit was designed by Turner-Prize winning artist Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond of Arup Group, an engineering firm. Announced on 31 March 2010, it was expected to be completed by December 2011. The project came about after Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell decided in 2008 that the Olympic Park needed "something extra". Designers were asked for ideas for an "Olympic tower" at least 100 metres (330 ft) high: Orbit was the unanimous choice from proposals considered by a nine-person advisory panel. Kapoor and Balmond believed that Orbit represented a radical advance in the architectural field of combining sculpture and structural engineering, and that it combined both stability and instability in a work that visitors can engage with and experience via an incorporated spiral walkway. It has been both praised and criticised for its bold design, and has especially received criticism as a vanity project of questionable lasting use or merit as a public art project.
The project was expected to cost £19.1 million, with £16 million coming from Britain's then-richest man, the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman of the ArcelorMittal steel company, and the balance of £3.1 million coming from the London Development Agency. The name "ArcelorMittal Orbit" combines the name of Mittal's company, as chief sponsor, with Orbit, the original working title for Kapoor and Balmond's design.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit temporarily closed after the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games while the South Plaza (in which Orbit is positioned) underwent reconstruction for its long-term legacy use as a public outdoor space. It re-opened to the public on 5 April 2014. The structure incorporates the world's tallest and longest – 178 m (584 ft) – tunnel slide, designed by
History
According to London mayor Boris Johnson, in around October 2008 he and Tessa Jowell decided that the site in Stratford, London that was to become the Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympics needed "something extra" to "distinguish the East London skyline", and "arouse the curiosity and wonder of Londoners and visitors".[4]
A design competition held in 2009 called for designs for an "Olympic tower". It received about 50 submissions.[5] Johnson has said that his early concept for the project was something more modest than Orbit, along the lines of "a kind of 21st-century Trajan's Column", but this was dropped when more daring ideas were received.[4]
The media reported unconfirmed details of the project in October 2009, describing the interest of the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, one of Britain's richest men, in funding a project that would cost around £15 million. Boris Johnson was believed to want something like the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.[6][7] At that time there were understood to be five artists being considered, including Antony Gormley.[6] Early designs reportedly included 'Transmission' by Paul Fryer, a 400-foot (120 m) high structure "resembling a cross between a pylon and a native American totem pole", according to The Times.[6] A spokesman for Johnson would only confirm that he was "keen to see stunning, ambitious, world-class art in the Olympic Park", and that work on commissioning the project was at an early stage.[6][7]
Mittal's involvement came about after a chance meeting with Johnson in a cloakroom in Davos in January 2009,[8] as they were on their way to separate dinner engagements. In a conversation that reportedly lasted 45 seconds Johnson pitched the idea to Mittal, who immediately agreed to supply the steel.[4] Mittal later said of his involvement, "I never expected that this was going to be such a huge project. I thought it was just the supply of some steel, a thousand tonnes or so, and that would be it. But then we started working with artists and I realised that the object was not just to supply steel but to complete the whole project. It took us almost 15 months of negotiation and discussion."[9] Johnson has said that, "In reality, ArcelorMittal has given much more than the steel."[4]
Kapoor's and Balmond's Orbit was announced as the winner on 31 March 2010.[10] According to The Guardian, Orbit was chosen from a short list of three, beating a design by Antony Gormley and one by the architectural firm Caruso St John.[11] According to The Times, Gormley's design was a 390-foot (120 m) steel colossus titled Olympian Man, a trademark piece of a statue of himself, rejected mainly on the grounds of its projected cost, estimated at £40 million.[12]
Johnson and Jowell agreed to issue a commission for Orbit in partnership with Mittal after it was chosen by a nine-person advisory panel brought together by them to advise on a long list of proposals.[4][10] According to Mittal, the panel made a unanimous decision to pick Orbit, as it both represented the Olympic Games and was achievable within the ambitious time frame.[5] Kapoor described it as "the commission of a lifetime".[10]
Johnson pre-empted possible criticism during the official launch by stating: "Of course some people will say we are nuts – in the depths of
The completed structure was officially unveiled to the press and public on 11 May 2012.[13]
An image of the structure was included in the 2015 design of the British passport.[14][15]
The structure was re-purposed with the world's longest slide in 2016, as a way to attract more visitors.[16]
Design
Interpretation
According to Kapoor, the design brief from the Mayor's office was for a "tower of at least 100 metres (330 ft)", while Balmond said that he was told the Mayor was "looking for an icon to match the Eiffel Tower".[17]
Kapoor said that one of the influences on his design was the
Upon its launch Johnson said "It would have boggled the minds of the Romans. It would have boggled Gustave Eiffel."[18] Nicholas Serota, a member of the design panel, said that Orbit was a tower with an interesting twist, with "the energy you might traditionally associate with this type of structure but in a surprisingly female form".[21]
According to Mittal, Orbit was already the working title, as it describes continuous action, a creative representation of the "extraordinary physical and emotional effort" that Olympians undertake in their continuous drive to do better. It was decided to keep this as the final name and prepend ArcelorMittal (as the project supporter).[5]
On the public announcement of the design Johnson conceded that it might become known by something other than its official name, suggesting "Colossus of Stratford" or the "Hubble Bubble", in reference to his belief that it resembles a giant
Designers
Orbit is described as "designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond".
The sculpture was engineered by the Global engineer Arup, who developed the overall geometry, structural design and the building services including the lighting displayed extensively during the Olympic games.[24] Architectural input by Kathryn Findlay (Ushida Findlay Architects, as a sub-consultant to Arup) made the sculpture into a functional building, for example designing the staircase.[2][25]
Structural
The organic design of Orbit demanded an extraordinary amount of structural engineering work. This was done by
From a structural point of view, Orbit consists of two parts:[26]
- the trunk – the more-or-less vertical tower which houses the elevators and stairs and supports the observation deck.
- the red tube – an open lattice of red steel that surrounds the trunk.
The trunk has a base diameter of 37 metres (121 ft), narrowing to 5 metres (16 ft) on the way up, then widening again to 9.6 metres (31 ft) just under the observation deck.[26] The trunk is supported and stabilized by the tube, which gives a structural character of a tripod to the entire construction.[26] Further structural integrity is given to the construction by octagonal steel rings that surround the tube and trunk, spaced at 4 metres (13 ft) and cross-joined pairwise by sixteen diagonally mounted steel connectors.[26]
A special part of the construction is the canopy, the
Height
Early contradictory reports suggested the tower would be 120 metres (390 ft) tall.[11][27][28][29] However, it finally measured in at 114.5 metres (376 ft), making it the UK's tallest[30] sculpture,[31] surpassing the 60-metre (200 ft) tall Aspire in Nottingham.
On announcing the project, the Greater London Authority described Orbit's height in comparison with the Statue of Liberty, stating that it would be 22 metres (72 ft) taller[10] – the Statue of Liberty is 93 metres (305 ft) high, including the 46-metre (151 ft) statue and its pedestal. The media picked up the apparent intention to cast the Orbit as London's answer to the Eiffel Tower, which is 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall. The Guardian related how it was "considerably shorter",[11][18][32] also noting that it is even "20 metres (66 ft) shorter than the diminutive Blackpool Tower".[32]
Its height was also compared in the media with other London landmarks. It was described as being "slightly taller" or "nearly 20 metres (66 ft) taller" than the
Construction
Orbit is located in the southern area of the Olympic Park, between London Stadium and the Aquatics Centre.[10] After the March 2010 confirmation of the winning design,[5][18] construction began in November 2010; it reached its full height in November 2011.[34]
Steel is the primary material used in the sculpture. According to Balmond, there was no feasible alternative, as steel was the only material that could give the minimum thickness and maximum strength represented in the coiling structure.[17] It was built from approximately 2000 tonnes of steel, produced as much as possible from ArcelorMittal plants, with the exact sourcing being determined by the grades of steel required and the technical requirements of the project.[5] Of this, 60% was recycled steel produced by the Esch Belval steel plant in Luxembourg.[35]
On 14 March 2011, with construction already underway on the main pylon,
Use
As an observation tower, Orbit has two indoor viewing platforms on two levels, with each level having capacity for 150 people.[18][31] According to the Greater London Authority, the observation platform offers "unparalleled views of the entire 250 acres (1.0 km2; 0.39 sq mi) of the Olympic Park and London's skyline".[10] According to The Independent, visitors should take the lift to the top and descend the 455-step staircase; this should allow them to appreciate the views around which Anish Kapoor arranged the sculpture.[31]
It is designed to cope with 700 visitors per hour.[18] During the Olympic Games the entrance fee was £15 for adults and £7 for children.[31] The tower does not include a dining area, however there is a cafe, shop and other facilities at the South Park Hub building, which opened in April 2014.
The ambition is that the sculpture, as well as being a focal point for the Olympic Park during the Games, will form part of the wider Stratford regeneration plans, which aim to turn the Olympic site into a permanent tourist destination after the Games.[4] Tessa Jowell said Orbit will be "like honey to bees for the millions of tourists that visit London each year".[10] Boris Johnson predicted it would become "the perfect iconic cultural legacy".[10] According to Lord Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Olympic organisers, it would play a central part in the Game's role of leaving a lasting legacy and transformed landscape in east London.[10]
During the
In 2016, a permanent slide designed by German artist Carsten Höller was added to the sculpture. The slide is reported to be the world's tallest and longest tunnel slide at 178 metres.[37] Though it was originally reported that admission to the slide would cost around £5,[38] the general adult price for entry to the slide and viewing platforms is £30.00 (£25.00 if bought in advance), as of March 2023[update].[39]
Funding
At the time of its public launch, the total cost of Orbit was announced as £19.1 million.[10] ArcelorMittal was to fund up to £16 million, with the remaining £3.1 million being provided by the London Development Agency.[10] This consists of a £10 million cash donation, and £6 million in underwriting of capital costs, which could be potentially recovered from profits generated after the Games.[10] According to Johnson, the cost of the project would be recouped after the games through the private hire of a dining area at the top, predicting it would become a "corporate money-making venture".[18]
Mittal said he was immediately interested in Orbit after he remembered the excitement that surrounded the announcement that London had won the Olympic bid. He saw it as an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for London, showcase the "unique qualities of steel" and play a role in the regeneration of Stratford.[5] Mittal said of his involvement in the project, "I live in London – I’ve lived here since 1997 – and I think it’s a wonderful city. This project is an incredible opportunity to build something really spectacular for London, for the Olympic Games and something that will play a lasting role in the legacy of the Games."[5]
Advisory panel member and director of the Tate gallery, Nicholas Serota, said Orbit was "the perfect answer to the question of how sport and art come together", and praised Mittal's "really impressive piece of patronage" for supporting a "great commission".[21]
In October 2015 Len Duvall, a Labour member of the London Assembly, stated that the tower was losing £520,000 a year; LLDC said they had revised their visitor target from 350,000 to 150,000 per year.[40]
Reception
Overall reception to Orbit was mixed, but mostly negative. With regard to its potential as a lasting visitor attraction,
The Times reported the description of it being the "Godzilla of public art".[12] In October 2012, ArcelorMittal Orbit was nominated and made the Building Design magazine shortlist for the Carbuncle Cup—an award for the worst British building completed in the past year, which was ultimately awarded to the Cutty Sark renovation.[41][42]
Jay Merrick of
Richard Morrison of The Times described Orbit as "like an enormous wire-mesh fence that has got hopelessly snagged round the bell of a giant french horn", adding that it "seems like an awful lot of trouble just to look at East London", in comparison to a music hall comedian's refrain at the $16 million cost of the
Rowan Moore of The Guardian questioned if it was going to be anything more than a folly, or whether it would be as eloquent as the Statue of Liberty.[43] He speculated that the project might mark the time when society stops using large iconic projects as a tool for lifting areas out of deprivation. He questioned its ability to draw people's attention to Stratford after the Games, in a similar manner to the successes of the Angel of the North or the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.[43] He also questioned the piece's ability to strike a chord like the Angel, which he believed had at least "created a feelgood factor and sense of pride" in Gateshead, or whether it would simply become one of the "many more unloved rotting wrecks that no one has the nerve to demolish". He postulated that the addition of stairs and a lift made Orbit less succinct than Kapoor's previous successful works, while ultimately he said "hard to see what the big idea is, beyond the idea of making something big".[43]
Fellow Guardian writer John Graham-Cumming rejected comparisons to icons like the Eiffel Tower, which had itself not been intended to be a lasting monument, only persisting into public acceptance as art through being useful; he also pointed out the Colossus of Rhodes collapsed within a few decades, and the Tower of Babel was "constructed to glorify those that constructed it." He suggested that Johnson should reconsider whether it should be pulled down after 20 years. Questioning its corporate role, he believed that meant it looked less and less like a work of art and more like a vanity project.[32] In an online poll published by The Guardian, 38.6% of readers considered it a "grand design", while 61.4% considered it "garbage".[44]
Responding to concerns from The Times that ArcelorMittal's sponsorship and naming of Orbit would represent an improper incursion of corporate branding into public life, Johnson stated that Olympic rules mean that it cannot carry any corporate branding during the games.[8] Felicity Carus of The Guardian's environment blog questioned whether ArcelorMittal's record on carbon emissions was good enough to mean Orbit represented a fitting monument for the 2012 Olympics, billed as a 'world's first sustainable Olympics'.[45]
Memorial controversy
The
By the time of the 20th anniversary of the camp's closure proposals for a physical memorial to the camp's existence had made no progress. ArcelorMittal said that it was prepared to meet the former inmates' demands but the local authorities were ultimately responsible for granting permission. The Republika Srpska authorities considered that allowing camp survivors free access to the site and the construction of a memorial as originally agreed by ArcelorMittal would undermine reconciliation. "Prijedor 92" president Mirsad Duratović, stated that the campaign for a memorial would continue.[48]
In July 2012, ahead of the start of the
Advisory panel
The advisory panel consisted of:[10]
- Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate gallery
- Serpentine Gallery
- Hans-Ulrich Obrist, also of the Serpentine Gallery
- Sarah Weir OBE, of the Olympic Delivery Authority
- Stuart Lipton, of Chelsfield LLP
- Anita Zabludowicz, of the 176 gallery Zabludowicz collection
- James Lingwood, directors of the Artangelarts commissioning organisation
- Munira Mirza, the Mayoral Advisor on Arts and Culture
In announcing the winning design, Johnson thanked the
See also
- B of the Bang, the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games sculpture
- Skylon, the London 1951 Festival of Britain tower
- The White Horse at Ebbsfleet, a proposed giant sculpture for Kent
- Googie architecture, earlier space-inspired architecture
- United States Steel for the 1964 New York World's Fair
Footnotes
- ^ ArcelorMittal Orbit Perspectives Archived 22 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 15 June 2012
- ^ a b Chozick, Amy (1 June 2012). "A Lightning Rod Masquerading as a Sculpture". New York Times. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- ^ Tim Adams: "Anish Kapoor's Orbit tower: the mother of all helter-skelters" in The Guardian, 5 May 2012
- ^ a b c d e f g h ArcelorMittal Orbit brochure, page 3
- ^ a b c d e f g ArcelorMittal Orbit brochure, page 5
- ^ a b c d e f g Chris Gourlay and Cristina Ruiz (25 October 2009). "Look out, Paris, Boris plans a 'Piffle Tower'". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d Andrew Hough (25 October 2009). "London 2012: new Olympics structure would 'rival Eiffel Tower'". The Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b Ben Hoyle (1 April 2010). "'Hubble Bubble' tower will be icon of Olympic legacy". The Times. London. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ Andrew Cave (3 April 2010). "China: the final frontier for Mittal". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 April 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Anish Kapoor to design iconic visitor attraction for Olympic Park". london.gov.uk > Media > Press Releases (Press release). Greater London Authority. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mark Brown (31 March 2010). "Anish Kapoor's tangled tower at the heart of London 2012". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b Chris Gourlay and Cristina Ruiz (11 April 2010). "Nude Antony Gormley giant lost Olympic statue race". The Times. London. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ Williams, Helen (11 May 2012). "Anish Kapoor's Olympic Orbit tower unveiled". The Independent. London. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ Tucker, Emma (3 November 2015). "UK creatives feature in updated British passport design". Dezeen. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- ^ Introducing the new UK passport design (PDF). HM Passport Office. 2015. p. 17. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- ^ "London's ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower Will Soon Be the World's Tallest Slide". archdaily.com. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f ArcelorMittal Orbit brochure, page 11
- ^ a b c d e f g h i John Hall (31 March 2010). "'Mind boggling' artwork that will tower over London". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b Jonathan Glancey (1 April 2010). "First among Olympian obelisks". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ "Anish Kapoor chosen for landmark 2012 sculpture". BBC News. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b ArcelorMittal Orbit brochure, page 14
- ^ ArcelorMittal Orbit brochure, cover
- ^ a b c ArcelorMittal Orbit brochure, page 7
- ^ "ArcelorMittal Orbit Anish Kapoor & Cecil Balmond". 30 July 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ Hurst, Will (31 October 2011). "Orbit becomes UK's highest sculpture". Building Design. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- ^ ISSN 0020-1146.
- ^ a b Tom Dyckhoff (31 March 2010). "Just what London needs, a giant squiggle". The Times. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ a b Jay Merrick (1 April 2010). "120m high and very, very red: the best seat at the Olympic Games". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Mark Brown (31 March 2010). "Climb this: Anish Kapoor's massive artwork that will tower over London". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- OCLC 234087707.
- ^ a b c d Williams, Helen (11 March 2012). "Anish Kapoor's Olympic Orbit tower unveiled". The Independent. London. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ a b c John Graham-Cumming (2 April 2010). "Will the Orbit become London's Eiffel?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Richard Morrison (2 April 2010). "True public art or just public posturing?". The Times. London. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "About - The Story - ArcelorMittal Orbit Stratford London". Arcelormittalorbit.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
- ^ "ArcelorMittal Orbit - Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London". ArcelorMittal Orbit. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
- ^ Gibson, Owen (30 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012 opening ceremony: Games launched on a storm of ideas". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "The Slide | New For 2016 | ArcelorMittal Orbit". ArcelorMittal Orbit. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
- ^ "Olympic Park Orbit tower slide plans given go ahead". BBC News. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ^ "Opening Times & Prices | ArcelorMittal Orbit London". ArcelorMittal Orbit. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ "Olympic Park's Orbit tower costing taxpayer £10,000 a week". The Guardian. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ Woodman, Ellis (13 September 2012). "Cutty Sark Renovation". Building Design.
- ^ bbc.co.uk (14 September 2014). "Cutty Sark refit 'damaging', says The Victorian Society". BBC News.
- ^ a b c Rowan Moore (4 April 2010). "Is the Orbit anything more than a folly on an Olympic scale?". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "Olympic heights". The Guardian. London. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ Felicity Carus (9 April 2010). "ArcelorMittal's emissions make a monumental joke of Olympic park tower". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 25 June 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ Vulliamy, Ed (3 December 2004). "Sale of Omarska". Bosnian Institute. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
- ^ Hawton, Nick (20 February 2006). "Bosnia war memorial plan halted". BBC.
- ^ Sito-Sucic, Daria (6 August 2012). "Bosnia camp survivors protest for memorial at ArcelorMittal mine". Reuters UK.
- ^ "ArcelorMittal's Olympics showpiece in a row". Zee News. 3 July 2012.
References
- "ArcelorMittal Orbit" (PDF). london.gov.uk > Art & Culture > London 2012 > The ArcelorMittal Orbit > Download a detailed overview. Mayor of London. n.d. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- "London 2012: Anish Kapoor Orbit tower takes shape". BBC News. 25 February 2011.
External links
- Official website
- Orbit Anish Kapoor website
- The ArcelorMittal Orbit Greater London Authority
- 360 degree view of the Orbit London Mayor's YouTube channel