High in the London Eye
December 7th 2007 05:13
Although the latest and newest of London’s great landmarks, the London Eye has rapidly become one of its most popular. 3.5 million visitors per year queue like cattle in the corrals that stretch back from the river alongside County Hall, and wait for hours for a 45 minute whirl through the sky above the Thames.
Originally named the Millenium Wheel, and often mockingly referred to as the “big bike wheel” this great feat of architecture, engineering and design was masterminded by husband and wife team David Mark and Julia Barfield. Commissioned to mark the turn of the millennium, the Eye’s perfect circle is a metaphor for the passage of time. The massive 2,100 ton structure was transported down the Thames in sections and assembled by a giant floating crane for the official opening and inaugural spin on December 31, 1999. At its highest point it is 135 metres and was the tallest wheel in the world until 2006 when it was eclipsed by the Star of Nanchang and shortly thereafter by the Singapore flyer. Its 32 air-conditioned glass observation capsules, each accommodating 25 passengers, give a spectacular 40 kilometre view over London.
While it has the look of towering ferris wheel, the Eye offers none of the heart-stopping thrills. Apart from the quick and carefully calculated step into and out of the moving capsules, a turn in the eye is a somewhat tame experience, not unlike a slow, gentle and silent scenic circle in a plane. In keeping with the aeronautical theme, sponsors, British Airways, offer "aircraft speak" welcomes on embarkation, as well as in-flight cautions about "refraining" (from smoking, eating, drinking and leaning on doors – as if!) instructions on best position for group capsule photo shoots (for a filmy, trapped in a space bubble souvenir) and “We hope you enjoyed your flight” farewells. However, the panorama of London and the Thames is breathtaking. The close-up view of the hub and spokes of the huge, turning wheel and the companion capsules hanging above and below is awe-inspiring.
For the vertiginous and claustrophobic, the Eye is as lovely from below and afar, as from inside and atop. From any vantage point, it looks sensational; it is beautiful seen from both the Westminster and the Hungerford bridges, looking from Embankment across the Thames, approaching from Waterloo past Shell Centre or strolling down Southbank. It is stunning by night, a radiant circle of neon suspended in the dark and at New Year, it is a shower of brilliant lights as fireworks explode around it.
The Eye is a feature of the city skyline now, just as the Eiffel tower is part of the Paris horizon. Its story, too is similar to the tale of the tower. Just like Gustave Eiffel’s monument on the Champ de Mars, the initial appearance of Mark and Barfield’s Eye on Southbank provoked fierce controversy and debate with the cons condemning it as an eyesore and a waste of money and the pros defending it as a monumental achievement of modern creativity and technology. Just as the Eiffel Tower is a symbol of the French reach into the twentieth century, so too, the Eye is a symbol of the English turn into the twenty-first. And in the same way as the Eiffel Tower has endured to become Paris icon, so too is the Eye fast becoming a London icon.
The Eye from Southbank
Originally named the Millenium Wheel, and often mockingly referred to as the “big bike wheel” this great feat of architecture, engineering and design was masterminded by husband and wife team David Mark and Julia Barfield. Commissioned to mark the turn of the millennium, the Eye’s perfect circle is a metaphor for the passage of time. The massive 2,100 ton structure was transported down the Thames in sections and assembled by a giant floating crane for the official opening and inaugural spin on December 31, 1999. At its highest point it is 135 metres and was the tallest wheel in the world until 2006 when it was eclipsed by the Star of Nanchang and shortly thereafter by the Singapore flyer. Its 32 air-conditioned glass observation capsules, each accommodating 25 passengers, give a spectacular 40 kilometre view over London.
View of a capsule from the Eye
While it has the look of towering ferris wheel, the Eye offers none of the heart-stopping thrills. Apart from the quick and carefully calculated step into and out of the moving capsules, a turn in the eye is a somewhat tame experience, not unlike a slow, gentle and silent scenic circle in a plane. In keeping with the aeronautical theme, sponsors, British Airways, offer "aircraft speak" welcomes on embarkation, as well as in-flight cautions about "refraining" (from smoking, eating, drinking and leaning on doors – as if!) instructions on best position for group capsule photo shoots (for a filmy, trapped in a space bubble souvenir) and “We hope you enjoyed your flight” farewells. However, the panorama of London and the Thames is breathtaking. The close-up view of the hub and spokes of the huge, turning wheel and the companion capsules hanging above and below is awe-inspiring.
The spoke of the Eye
For the vertiginous and claustrophobic, the Eye is as lovely from below and afar, as from inside and atop. From any vantage point, it looks sensational; it is beautiful seen from both the Westminster and the Hungerford bridges, looking from Embankment across the Thames, approaching from Waterloo past Shell Centre or strolling down Southbank. It is stunning by night, a radiant circle of neon suspended in the dark and at New Year, it is a shower of brilliant lights as fireworks explode around it.
The Eye at night
The Eye is a feature of the city skyline now, just as the Eiffel tower is part of the Paris horizon. Its story, too is similar to the tale of the tower. Just like Gustave Eiffel’s monument on the Champ de Mars, the initial appearance of Mark and Barfield’s Eye on Southbank provoked fierce controversy and debate with the cons condemning it as an eyesore and a waste of money and the pros defending it as a monumental achievement of modern creativity and technology. Just as the Eiffel Tower is a symbol of the French reach into the twentieth century, so too, the Eye is a symbol of the English turn into the twenty-first. And in the same way as the Eiffel Tower has endured to become Paris icon, so too is the Eye fast becoming a London icon.
The Thames from the Eye
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