The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Olympic sculpture gets cool reception

Olympic sculpture gets cool reception
11 May 2012
The editorial unit
Avatar
The editorial unit
11 May 2012

An artistic tower costing £22.5 million was unveiled yesterday to commemorate the Olympics being held in London this year. Critics have questioned the need to spend so much money on the tallest sculpture in the world at a time when the government is making such large scale cuts to pensions, health and social services.

Designed by Anish Kapoor, the steel structure called Orbit depicts the five rings of the Olympics and will charge adult visitors £15 for getting a lift to the 35th floor and descending its steps on the way down.

The building itself seems like it could become another herring of the Dome variety after critics slammed it on its opening with one design expert calling it “a contorted mass of entrails”.

Costing an amount similar to some of the stadiums themselves, it is already being slated as an inappropriate modernist experiment. 

Kapoor said he liked his work to be controversial: “The Eiffel Tower was hated by everybody for 50 years, or something like that,” he explained. “Now it’s a mainstay of how we understand Paris. We’ll see what happens here. But discomfort’s ok.”

Discomfort is an understatement for some of those whose protests against the Olympics have been heavily seized on by Olympics officials. At the Leyton Marshes protest camp, several people were arrested by the police as they tried to point out the unnecessary building of a basketball court in the middle of a well-used green area in East London.

Expect more delays and a reduction of citizens’ rights when the Olympics hit London and a combined force of police, army and security guards numbering nearly 50,000 swarm our streets.

The editorial unit

Related Items

More in Uncategorised

Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass

The editorial unit
Read More

Is 2021 the end of brick-and-mortar?

The editorial unit
Read More

Postdata – Twin Flames

★★★★★
Mark Worgan
Read More

Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels

★★★★★
Brooke Snowe
Read More

Daniel Brühl on his directorial debut Next Door: “It was magical; I didn’t get a ‘no’ from anyone.”

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Introduction (Inteurodeoksyeon)

★★★★★
Joseph Owen
Read More

Azor

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Night Raiders

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Big vs Small

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The Toll
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Maximo Park – Nature Always Wins
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Your Honor
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Spotlight: Lauren Everet and Soup Kitchen London, striving for food security and social equality
    Food & Drinks
  • Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass
    Food & Drinks
  • Postdata – Twin Flames
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Daniel Brühl on his directorial debut Next Door: “It was magical; I didn’t get a ‘no’ from anyone.”
    Berlinale
  • Introduction (Inteurodeoksyeon)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Moxie
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Souad
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • We (Nous)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Bicep at Saatchi Gallery Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Winter Lake
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Could Manchester City dominate English football just as United did?
Temporary tattoos were once tacky, not anymore!