Call yourself a dare-devil? Then tick the world’s longest tunnel Slide off your bucket list! At 178m long, the 12 twists and turns wind through the UK’s tallest sculpture finishing with a devilish corkscrew section named the ‘bettfeder’ – after the German word for ‘bedspring’.ĭuring the descent, you’ll catch glimpses of the Park and London’s skyline through the transparent sections before plunging into darkness – leaving your mind to guess which direction you’ll drop next! Watt concluded that “East London’s contemporary third-wave gentrification involves the wholesale physical, economic and social transformation of deprived inner-city areas, and is increasingly being driven by large-scale regeneration programmes such as the Olympics.Adrenaline has reached new heights at the ArcelorMittal Orbit, giving you experiences unlike anywhere else in the capital. This indirect displacement is not easily measurable, and results in an intangible “feeling” that a family no longer belongs to the area in which they live. Altogether, the changes in public facilities and support services make the area less liveable. This occurs socially, when people see their neighbourhood changing dramatically: their friends leave, shops go out of business and are replaced by those with different clientele. There is also an indirect form which Marcuse coins as displacement pressure. Direct displacement involves either physical coercion through housing demolitions or landlord evictions, or economic pressure via rent increases.
Watt outlines a theory by Peter Marcuse (professor of urban planning at Columbia University), who details that there are several different types of community displacement. A 2013 essay by Paul Watt, t itled It’s Not For Us, examined the impact of the so-called Olympic Games legacy on low-income East Londoners. Kapoor and Balmond’s artwork also evokes memories of the UK’s historical patterns of displacing low-income communities in the pursuit of quick financial gain and “social cleansing”. At £16.50 a ticket, it is hardly the most accessible of attractions. In 2017, the BBC reported that the slide had received 138,245 visitors, and was £12.2m in debt, with interest growing by £700k a year. The sculpture stands for a polarised community, with wealthy new arrivals to the regenerated area, and further economic concerns. No matter how pure the intention of the work, it can quickly become muddied.Įight years later, the vast red structure that now characterises Stratford’s horizon symbolises far more than the London Olympics, with its promise to “Inspire a generation”. But there are powerful social forces that govern why an artwork is commissioned, where it will be situated and who it will represent. Public art can also showcase pride a monumental, beautiful piece of work can instil awe in the onlooker, and signal to visiting audiences that there is wealth, strength and beauty present in a particular place.
The Olympics have many perks for a host city: the opportunity to create a showstopping opening ceremony, a large injection of tourist money into the economy and a boost to national pride in a country’s population. But for the Stratford and East London community that it claims to enrich, the ArcelorMittal Orbit has proven divisive.
As the world’s tallest and longest tunnel slide, the sculpture has ticked many a box for politicians. Now, once you’ve journeyed to the summit and absorbed the view, you can enjoy either an abseil or slide, or else a gentle walk to return to earth via a mere 455 steps. In 2016, with a view to increasing the profitability of the sculpture, a slide designed by Carsten Holler was added at Johnson’s request. Their proposal allowed visitors to “zoom high into the clouds and explore London’s famous skyline”, suspending them almost 80 metres above the ground. The winning prize was awarded to a collaborative design by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, an architect and former deputy chairman of Arup. Boris Johnson, during his time as Mayor of London, convinced steel company ArcelorMittal to provide the material for the piece. In 2009, amid frantic planning for the London 2012 Olympics, a design competition was held to create a landmark that would be the crowning jewel of the newly designed Olympic Park. Catchily named the ArcelorMittal Orbit, the sculpture was constructed in 2012 as the centrepiece of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and has divided onlookers ever since it was erected. ArcelorMittal Orbit and The Slide, courtesy of Queen Elizabeth Olympic ParkĬantankerous red rails rise out of the ground and reach towards the sky in Stratford, East London, disrupting an otherwise flat landscape.
0 kommentar(er)
