London: The 2.7 million pound structure, ArcelorMittal Orbit at Olympic Park in London built by an Indian-origin designer and funded by the owner of Arcelor group, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal opened to a grand reception hosted by the Mittals.
The project is a giant curling structure made up of steel is 114.5m tall and will be the tallest structure in Britain and is 22 metres than Statue of Liberty. It can accommodate 5,000 visitors a day on top of the two platforms on two elevators.
The structure has been built adjacent to the Olympic stadium. The entire complex is built-up on wasteland. In fact, almost 50 percent of the material (steel) used in the Orbit is recycled.
A major cost of the structure- costing 22.7 million pounds- is covered by the Mittals (19.6 pounds) while the rest has been paid by the Greater London Authority, the administrative body that runs the city.
Anish Kapoor, the designer of the structure has won the Turner prize for his well-known large-scale installations. The Mumbai-born designer has been living in the city of London since 1970. He has worked with structural designer Cecil Balmond; they both had worked on another sculture called as “Marsyas” at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2002.
According to him the objective of the structure was to create a piece of art that “engages a real public.”
It is "a mythical tower of Babel that says 'come and join me,' " Mr. Kapoor said.”The experience will be about winding up and in on oneself. You want to forget the construction and engage with what you're experiencing."
At the reception Mr. Johnson, the mayor, welcomed guests to the "giant squashed red trombone" that symbolized a "spirit of dynamism" and a "resurge in economic hope," designed in "thumping good taste" - the latter claim was met with silence as guests sipped their Champagne. Already dubbed the archetypal "turd on the plaza" by art critics and the British press, whose descriptions of the Orbit have ranged from "a giant Mr. Messy" to "a drunken party animal of a building," the structure has been compared with the Eiffel Tower, which was also met with disdain when it was completed.
At the top platform two large mirrors stretch around the inside, designed to distort vision. They reflect images of visitors that are larger and more imposing than the buildings in the distance. And the view is like no other in London, revealing a magnificent skyline as the sun begins to drop on the hills.
The structure is his way of paying homage to the city of London. The city has been his home since 1997.
It appears that he had a direct hand in the structure's creation. When asked about its aesthetics, he laughed and said: "Oh, I was scribbling with Anish as it was being planned. People should appreciate it as art and steel."
At $24 per adult ticket, the Orbit is less expensive than the London Eye at $30, but is still much more expensive than other similar-size tourist attractions. Visiting the top-level platform of the Eiffel Tower costs $18 and the Statue of Liberty can leave you $17 poorer. Mr Kapoor insists that the price must be lowered dramatically once it is open to the public during the Olympic and Paralympic games.
Unfortunately, once the games end, the public will have to wait until March 2014, when the Olympic Park is reopened as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after a multimillion-pound renovation.
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