It is one of the most surprising and perturbed visual legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012, the ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower, designed by Sir Anish Kapoor and engineer Cecil Balmond. The ambitious plan to build this tower came from a casual conversation between the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Lakshmi Mittal the world's most important steelmaker, ArcerlorMittal.
London Mayor mentioned the idea of creating a benchmark to commemorate the Olympic Games and quickly come to agreement that the company has to take part of this project.
Thus it is born this controversial project for the city of London. The ArcelorMittal Orbit stands as the largest sculpture in Britain to be part of the Olympic legacy.
As presented, the work is called "Boris´s Folly" and according to data from 2014 the tower spends £10,000 a week. Wondering what new use give to that structure one of the creators of the tower, Sir Anish Kapoor invited the Belgian artist Carsten Höller to create a slide for the ArcelorMittal Orbit. This is the first collaboration between the two artists.
For that reason in June, it will be inaugurated the world's longest slide and one of the highest with 178 meters high, located in the old Olympic village now called Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The journey through the work of Mr. Höller lasts about 40 seconds where up to 12 loops around the ironic structure. The tube is made of stainless steel but is pierced with windows so users can enjoy the sights of London at 15mph.
London Mayor mentioned the idea of creating a benchmark to commemorate the Olympic Games and quickly come to agreement that the company has to take part of this project.
Thus it is born this controversial project for the city of London. The ArcelorMittal Orbit stands as the largest sculpture in Britain to be part of the Olympic legacy.
As presented, the work is called "Boris´s Folly" and according to data from 2014 the tower spends £10,000 a week. Wondering what new use give to that structure one of the creators of the tower, Sir Anish Kapoor invited the Belgian artist Carsten Höller to create a slide for the ArcelorMittal Orbit. This is the first collaboration between the two artists.
For that reason in June, it will be inaugurated the world's longest slide and one of the highest with 178 meters high, located in the old Olympic village now called Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The journey through the work of Mr. Höller lasts about 40 seconds where up to 12 loops around the ironic structure. The tube is made of stainless steel but is pierced with windows so users can enjoy the sights of London at 15mph.
“A child might be here purely for the slide, while the serious art lover might see this in purely formalistic terms. I personally like the confusion, that you don’t know what it is but it still creates a very unique experience.” Said Höller.
The slide will officially open to the public on June 24 and will cost £12, although Kapoor said he wished it was cheaper, frankly. It aims to generate annual revenues of 1.2 million pounds in ticket sales, but the number of visits were only 200,000 people last year, 150,000 below predictions.
“We are hoping Boris will be the first one down", the artist added.
