Now we’ve seen it all! Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal – and one of the world’s richest men, will actually have a tower named after him – no less a structure than the mighty Olympic Tower being readied for the 2012 Games in London. He will be picking up most of the $30 million tab. It’s going to be made of 1400 tonnes of steel, appropriate for the King of Steel, and is being designed by the acclaimed London-based artist Anish Kapoor. It will be constructed by Arup, an international company which has done work on the Sydney Opera House, the Centre Pompidou in Paris as well as work on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Tower to be named ArcelorMittal Orbit & designed by Anish Kapoor
“We set out to create a transformational piece of art that will be an iconic symbol for the Olympics and also a new landmark that will endure long after the Games themselves,” says Mittal who is one of the sponsors for the 2012 Olympics and the Paralympic Games. “Everyone at ArcelorMittal is delighted with the outcome of the ArcelorMittal Orbit. London will have a bold, beautiful and magnificent sculpture that also showcases the great versatility of steel.”
Both Lakshmi Mittal and Anish Kapoor have Indian roots so it looks like India and the Indian touch will be silhouetted against the London skies for decades to come! But the Mittalesque endeavor is not without controversy as the scores of comments across the Internet show.
For those who want details about the massive structure here are the details.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit set to become UK’s largest sculpture.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, today unveiled the artist and design chosen to create a spectacular new visitor attraction in the Olympic Park.
Award winning London-based artist Anish Kapoor has been given the commission of a lifetime to design the spectacular new public attraction in the Olympic Park. The stunning artwork, to be entitled ‘The ArcelorMittal Orbit’, was designed in collaboration with a team at Arup’s advanced geometric design unit, led by Cecil Balmond and Daniel Bosia and will ensure the Park remains an unrivalled visitor destination following the 2012 Games, providing the key Olympic legacy Mayor of London Boris Johnson envisaged for London’s east end.
The breathtaking sculpture – thought to be the tallest in the UK – will consist of a continuous looping lattice of tubular steel. Standing at a gigantic 115m, it will be 22m taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York and offer unparalleled views of the entire 250 acres of the Olympic Park and London’s skyline from a special viewing platform. Visitors will be able to take a trip up the statuesque structure in a huge lift and will have the option of walking down the spiralling staircase.
You can see the video here
One of the world’s most distinguished contemporary artists, Turner Prize winning Anish Kapoor studied in London, where he is now based. He is well known for his use of rich pigment and imposing, yet popular works, such as the vast, fleshy and trumpet-like Marsyas, which filled the Tate’s Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series, the giant reflecting, pod like sculpture Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park and his recent record breaking show at the Royal Academy, the most successful exhibition ever presented by a contemporary artist in London.
ArcelorMittal will fund up to £16million of the £19.1million project with the outstanding £3.1 million provided by the London Development Agency. The unveiling also marks ArcelorMittal’s announcement to become a tier two sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to support the infrastructure and success of 2012.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson and the Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell agreed the commission in partnership with Mr Mittal after bringing together a panel from the art and design world to advise on a long list of proposals. Anish Kapoor’s team made an outstanding proposal that would be accessible and leave a fitting 2012 legacy.
Anish Kapoor said: “I am deeply honoured to be invited to undertake this challenging commission. I am particularly attracted to it because of the opportunity to involve members of the public in a particularly close and personal way. It is the commission of a lifetime.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “Long after the Games are over our aim is to have a stunning spectacle in east London that will be recognised around the world. I’m thrilled that when visitors from every corner of the globe plan trips to our must see attractions they will now eagerly include the ArcelorMittal Orbit! It will be an internationally acclaimed family attraction and I would like to thank Mr Mittal for his generous support. Anish Kapoor’s inspired art work will truly encapsulate the energy and spirit of London during the Games and as such will become the perfect iconic cultural legacy.”
Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, commented: “The Olympic Games are one of the few truly iconic global events. I was immediately excited by the prospect of ArcelorMittal becoming involved because ArcelorMittal is a global company with operations in more than 60 countries. And as someone who lives in this great city, I remember the great excitement felt when it was announced that London had been selected to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We set out to create a transformational piece of art that will be an iconic symbol for the Olympics and also a new landmark that will endure long after the Games themselves. Everyone at ArcelorMittal is delighted with the outcome of the ArcelorMittal Orbit. London will have a bold, beautiful and magnificent sculpture that also showcases the great versatility of steel.”
Cecil Balmond said: “Being invited to collaborate on tower for London was an irresistible challenge. What is new in this piece is the geometry and how it’s been put together. We want people to forget the engineering, the construction, the materials and simply ‘experience’ it. All tower structures are pyramidical, but we wanted to see if we could create a structure with a non-linear form- an orbit that turns and gathers strength from each loop.”
The attraction will stand in the southern part of the Olympic Park between the Stadium and Aquatics Centre and will open in time for the 2012 Games. After completion, the Olympic Park Legacy Company will take ownership and run the visitor attraction.
Minister for the Olympics and London Tessa Jowell said: “This stunning structure will become a new iconic London landmark towering 115 metres into the London skyline. Alongside the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre, Anish Kapoor’s brilliant design will be like to honey to bees for the millions of tourists that visit London each year. Having been involved in this project from the outset, I’m now looking forward to seeing it go from a great idea into a brilliant reality.”
Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), Seb Coe said: “Our ambitions for the Games are very clear and very simple. We want to leave leaving a lasting legacy: of more young people playing sport, of changing public attitudes towards disabilities through the Paralympic Games, of an extraordinarily transformed landscape in East London, in which this impressive sculpture will play a central role. The new sculpture will be an indelible memory, a declaration of legacy and a definable landmark that Londoners and people from around the world will enjoy visiting during the Games and long afterwards.”
Margaret Ford, Chairman of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said: “When you are able to combine an industry leader with a world renowned artist, supported by significant investment, we clearly see the significance of the Olympic Park. This visitor attraction will sit alongside our other iconic venues and, in animating the site, will encourage the public to use the park. This is a magnificent legacy asset.”
Advisory panel members Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist of the Serpentine Gallery, said: “The success of Anish Kapoor’s Marsyas commission Tate Modern in 2003 and his exhibition at the Royal Academy in 2009 demonstrates that his work already strikes a chord with many people. His close partnership with the distinguished engineer Cecil Balmond has created the exciting prospect of a sculpture to be climbed, an unexpected view of the city and a new place to visit and enjoy in London.”
Tate Director Sir Nicholas Serota, who sat on the advisory panel, said: “We are delighted that Anish Kapoor with Cecil Balmond will give London a new structure which is one of the most exciting new commissions of our time. The collaboration between Anish Kapoor, Cecil Balmond and Lakshmi Mittal bridges art, architecture, engineering and business to produce a new landmark for London.”
(Photo and text: Arup )
“It will be slightly taller than Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty, just short of the Great Pyramid of Giza and considerably shorter than the structure to which it is being compared – the Eiffel Tower. And even though it is still just a computer-generated model, it is already gathering nicknames: the Colossus of Stratford, perhaps, or the Hubble Bubble,” writes the Guardian.
You can also check out some of the reactions of people here
What are your reactions? What do you think? Marvelous or a monstrosity? Inquiring minds want to know!
