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The ArcelorMittal Tower is finally complete! To celebrate, here’s a gorgeous timelapse video of the Tower being built in the Olympic Park over the last couple of years.
At 114m, it’s officially the tallest sculpture in the UK. There’s a central lift which will take you up to see the spectacular views from the top; a spiral staircase winds down the central core to bring you back down to earth again.
The Tower officially opens to the public on 28 July.
Five thousand members of the public became the first people ever to cross the finishing line at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. The Olympic Park Run was the first public event to take place at the Olympic Stadium. Participants, selected by ballot, ran a five-mile course around the Olympic Park. They were joined Princess Beatrice, a host of celebrities and some former Olympic athletes.
Today marks six months to go to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. To celebrate, here’s a great video from Tate about Olympic artist in residence Neville Gabie.
Based at the park for 15 months in the run-up to the Games, Gabie’s work includes sitting in all 80,000 seats in the Olympic Stadium, and recreating a famous painting with the help of Olympic Park construction workers.
This is a great video from the UK Foreign Office’s YouTube channel, all about The Orbit – one of the new attractions being built in London this year.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit, to give it its full name, will be a contemporary symbol for the 21st century. At 115m tall, it’ll be Britain’s largest public art work. It has been created by artist and sculptor Anish Kapoor, and architectural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond.
When finished, it’ll 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 special viewing platforms. The basic structure is a square rotated in space at 45 degrees.
What do you think of the Orbit? Let us know in the comments below.
This week’s photo shows the growing ArcelorMittal Orbit, a sculpture designed by Anish Kapoor, being assembled in the Olympic Park. The building work is being watched by a family from The View Tube, a community centre built from shipping containers which overlooks the site.
The photo was taken by Andy Wilkes who works on the Olympic site and is also one of the 100 official BT London 2012 Storytellers, a group of bloggers, photographers, artists, musicians and film-makers who are documenting the games.
Tell us your London stories by adding your photos to the Visit London Flickr group.
The schedule and ticket prices for the London 2012 Paralympic Games were released today, with tickets starting from just £10 (or £5 for concessions).
With events ranging from Paralympic Track Cycling to Wheelchair Rugby, the Paralympic Games will welcome the world’s best Paralympic athletes to London. The Games will showcase some of London’s best sporting venues, including the brand new Olympic Park.
If you are a resident of the UK or a designated European country, you can apply for tickets between 9 and 26 September. If you’re not a UK resident you can apply for tickets via your local National Paralympic Committee or Authorised Ticket Reseller from 9 September.
For full details visit www.tickets.london2012.com
The Chelsea Flower Show opens tomorrow! To celebrate, we spoke to landscape architect Bunny Guinness, who is exhibiting her 9th show garden at Chelsea this year. The M&G Garden is a modern take on a traditional kitchen garden. We spoke to Bunny as she made her final preparations for the show:
Tell us a bit about the garden you’re creating at Chelsea Flower Show this year?
It’s basically a vegetable and herb garden. The most modern element is a large flat glass platform which covers the seating area. It weighs three tonnes!
This is your 9th year at Chelsea Flower Show. What’s so special about it that keeps you coming back?
I’m a glutton for punishment! It is hard work and difficult because you get the same rectangular space every time. But it’s fun because you create a garden in two weeks that would usually take 10 years. I think the team like it too – it’s buzzy.
The show sells out every year, why do you think people love it so much?
It’s all the razzmatazz – people come for the show gardens really. All the gardens are extreme and different. It’s so inspirational and exciting. Also because it’s small, you can’t fit that many people in and that contributes to the atmosphere. It’s a stunning show.
Do you have any tips for people visiting Chelsea Flower Show for the first time?
When you look at a garden don’t just think “wow”, try to analyse why you like it and take some tips home. It’s all about scale this year – big is beautiful. It’s fun to play around with scale.
Are there any gardens at the show that you’re particularly looking forward to seeing this year?
All of them because you walk past them twice a day and they are constantly changing. The Sheffield University guys are doing a good job. The Telegraph garden also looks good. There are lots of foreign gardeners here which is great because the show attracts a mass audience and if you show here you can get into media all over the world.
What are the final preparations you’ll be making now?
The very last thing is to wheel out the tulips which have been kept in a refridgerated store. They’ll pepper the garden with colour and add a bit of zing. Hopefully if it’s not too hot, they’ll last all week.
What’s your favourite garden in London?
I’m looking forward to seeing the planting in the perennial meadows at the Olympic Park – it’s some great planting work which will have some great colour.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Royal Hospital Chelsea, 24-28 May 2011
The construction of the London 2012 Handball Arena is now complete.
This makes it the third venue on the Olympic Park to reach completion: the first to be finished was the Velodrome; the second, the Olympic Stadium.
As well as handball, the new Handball Arena will also host the fencing part of the modern pentathlon and the goalball competition during the Paralympic Games.
Handball Arena: Sustainability
The Handball Arena was designed and built with sustainability as a priority.
The copper cladding has a high recycled content, while the arena can be lit naturally, through 88 rooftop sun-pipes, achieving annual energy savings of up to 40% and greater illumination than similar-sized conventional lights.
During TV broadcasts or poor weather, the system can be switched off and electrical lighting used instead.
Water usage at the venue is saved by 40% through a rain-harvesting system that feeds into toilets and other systems.
Handball Arena: Legacy
After the Games, capacity in the Handball Arena will be increased to hold up to 7,500 spectators. It’ll become a multi-use venue for the community, athletics and events.
The removable lower seating means a variety of activities can take place inside, from international competitions to community sports such as basketball, handball, badminton, boxing, martial arts, netball, table tennis and volleyball.
“It is wonderful to have another permanent sport facility located in the Park which will provide an opportunity for all of these sports to continue to develop in legacy,” said London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe.
“With the venue completed well in advance of Games-time, we can stage handball and goalball test events later this year under similar conditions to Games-time to ensure we get our planning just right.”
The next venue on the list seems to be the Basketball Arena… Watch this space!
Here’s a picture of the East London space back in 2006.
And here’s how it looks today, incorporating Westfield Stratford City, the Athletes’ Village and the Olympic Stadium:
With 300 shops and 50 restaurants, Westfield Stratford City will be the largest urban shopping centre in Europe. It’s due to open on 13 September.
There’ll be a John Lewis, an M&S and a Waitrose, as well as all your other favourite stores: Primark, Next, Mothercare, Swarovski, Paperchase, Uniqlo, Superdry and Reiss to name but a few!
Westfield Stratford City will have an unrivalled transport network; it’ll be one of the best connected shopping destinations in the UK. £17 billion is being invested in public transport in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics.
Read about Westfield’s sister store in Shepherd’s Bush on the Visit London website
Plans for a permanent new sculpture in London’s Olympic Park were revealed last week.
The sculpture consists of three 9-metre tall letters, spelling out the word “RUN”, made of glass and stainless steel.
Designed by the internationally-renowned artist Monica Bonvicini, the letters will produce a mirrored effect that’ll change depending on the light and time of the day.
Sarah Weir, Head of Art and Cultural Strategy at the Olympic Delivery Authority, said, “We wanted to commission a new and innovative piece of public art that would animate the plaza and be fitting for both the Games and the legacy of the Park.
“A number of renowned artists were shortlisted for this commission but Monica’s proposal was chosen by an independent and expert panel because it fulfilled all the ambitions for this key location within the Olympic Park. The sculpture is unique and ambitious but will be relevant and fitting – we hope it will help illuminate this part of the Olympic Park for many years to come.”
The sculpture will be constructed on the plaza of the Handball Arena in the Olympic Park.
London’s got plenty of outdoor sculpture for you to hunt out and enjoy. Here’s our guide to London’s Street Art to get you started.
