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Anish Kapoor's Arcelor Mittal Orbit, London
Named "Arcelor Mittal Orbit", the Anish Kapoor's gigantic sculpture - the centrepiece of the Olympic park, has already become London's newest symbol and will undoubtedly alter any bird's-eye view of the city. At first sight, the bright red metal chain extending skyward calls to mind a chaotic, tangled ladder of sorts - as though you've fallen into a 21st-century fairy tale about an industrial Jack and the beanstalk. Ironic comparisons to the Eiffel Tower in Paris are already being made."Orbit" is 115 metres high, exceeding the height of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The cost is estimated at 22.7 million pounds. About sixty percent of the metal used was obtained by recycling old washing machines, wrecked automobiles and other industrial detritus. The work will be officially unveiled on 28 July during the Summer Games. As Anish Kapoor promised in an interview: "It is not just a mechanical sculpture. It is a journey for people to go on." The journey is one that Kapoor will obviously direct with verve, providing surprise and a dose of adrenaline in a heightened intensity. The upper viewing platform will be accessed by a nearly windowless lift to whet the appetite for adventure. The platform itself will feature mirrors, creating an atmosphere that might be dubbed "Vertigo through the Looking Glass". Those whose reserves of adrenaline aren't yet dry will be able to descend by staircase, walking down 455 steps snaking to the ground. Current estimates about this hybrid of engineering and sculpture, so massive it would never fit in any gallery, are of a million visitors this year alone.
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