[Mrluvaluva]

Artist Anish Kapoor has given a preview of his Olympic Orbit tower sculpture, but admitted the £15 ticket price was "a hell of a lot of money".





The twisting red steel tower - known as ArcelorMittal Orbit - was officially unveiled to the media on Friday.

Designed by Kapoor and structural designer Cecil Balmond, the Orbit is the tallest sculpture in the UK - twice the height of Nelson's Column.

It will be open to visitors to the Olympic Games and Olympic Park in July.

Turner Prize-winner Kapoor said he thought the sculpture was beautiful, but added: "I think it is awkward. It has its elbows sticking out. It refuses to be an emblem. It is unsettling."

Visitors will be able to go up the 35-storey structure in a lift, and have the option of walking down its spiralling staircase.

During the Games the ticket price will be £15 for adults and £7 for children.

Kapoor said: "£15 is a hell of a lot of money, frankly. This thing has to be paid for, and there are all sorts of equations, but there's a push to keep that cost as low as possible and make it as available as possible."

The £22.7m Orbit is due to become a full-time ticketed visitor attraction in Easter 2014 as part of the phased re-opening of the Olympic Park after the Games.

Andrew Altman, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, which is in charge of the Park's future, said a lower pricing system for 2014 was yet to be worked out.

At 114.5 metres (376ft), The Orbit gives panoramic views across London's skyline of up to 20 miles.

The helter-skelter-like sculpture took 18 months to build, with 60% of its 2,000 tonnes of steel coming from recycled sources.

"We wanted to make something that was kind of a deconstruction of the tower," Kapoor told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Towers are almost always symmetrical," he continued, saying the Orbit's twisted loops were "the refusal of a singular image".

The Orbit has two observation floors, a 455-step spiral staircase, a lift and restaurant.

At ground level, visitors are greeted by a massive steel horn which hangs overhead.

The uppermost observation floor is flanked by two concave mirrors which disorientate the visitor before they get to see the skyline beyond.


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£15 is a bit steep really just to go up in a lift. It's no London Eye and even that's grossly over priced.