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Boris's Tower On The Olympic Park


Mr Tickle

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For one thing, it's NOT going to be the cauldron. That will probably be part of the stadium a la Beijing.

Planning documents suggest otherwise. It could very well be that we have two towers in the park. As a piece of standalone art I'm willing to give it a chance and not judge it yet, but in the context of its built surroundings I'm nervous.

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Planning documents suggest otherwise. It could very well be that we have two towers in the park. As a piece of standalone art I'm willing to give it a chance and not judge it yet, but in the context of its built surroundings I'm nervous.

Without a Ceremonies' team input? Then that's even going to be a worse lighting scheme than Atlanta and Torino. History has shown that parties without any theatrical/cauldron-lighting experience and have gone ahead with their infrastruture plans, fail miserably in the result WITHOUT the input of the more knowledgeable sectors. See Chapter 7 of my book.

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Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. Planning permission has been sought (and I assume granted as it was put in at the same time as the plans for the stadium itself) for a cauldron tower north of the stadium. Just because they've got planning permission to build it, that doesn't mean it'll be built however. It gives the ceremonies team another option should they want it.

Better that way round than some creative boffin saying "I NEED a tower for this to work" and the ODA having to turn around and say "Erm, we don't have planning permission for that".

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It's almost as though, London is trying so hard to be 'different' & 'bold' that they are losing their identity in the process. This is hardly creative or 'British'..

I have the same impression but I still think the identity of London games could evolve in something interesting.

That tour is just ugly though.. seems like some freak organism.

I read it has been designed by an Indian. Might it be a sort of revenge towards England? :huh:

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Thinking about it, I suppose it would make a pleasing Cauldron Tower if it is so. The external spiral staircase traveling up the tower could have a screen fitted with the colours of the Olympic Rings moving up the spiral. Seb Coe did say that the Cauldron would be seen from miles away and the size of this tower certainly fits the bill...

I don't think engineers would be stupid enough to build a huge tower not far from the Cauldron Tower that's half it's size so this could well be the Cauldron.

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I read it has been designed by an Indian. Might it be a sort of revenge towards England? :huh:

lol, could be!

It seems as though most Brits and others, really really dislike this project. Whether I read the comments on the Guardian, Daily Mail, or Independent websites.

A comment from Merle in London....

"scruffy, ugly, pointless, monstrous carbuncle - in the image of boris. also befits the ugly, clunky, unintelligent olympic logo. poor old stratford - as if its depressing impoverished post-industrial backdrop hasn't got enough to contend with"

A further comment from Phil in France....

"Looks like a first attempt to build China's 'Bird's Nest' that went horribly wrong. I believe Britain can do a lot better."

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You appear to be the only one.

oh for god's sake get over yourself! let's get lots of quotes from internet boards and give air to loads of nimbys and even worse "you could build a hospital for this price" people. i hate the logo - i hate this - i hate that - looks like poo - i could do better - worse than atlanta - i hate myself - i hate the government - i hate i hate i hate! no one has had anything constructive to say other than - dare i say it - purile and sometimes pseudo racist shite!

that said it is not my cup of tea but i am trying to understand what the artist is doing and trying to keep calm and carry on - btw i hate the mascots - dreadful - what were they thinking of - not at all british - must have been designed by a homosexual or an indian lol!

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lol, could be!

It seems as though most Brits and others, really really dislike this project. Whether I read the comments on the Guardian, Daily Mail, or Independent websites.

A comment from Merle in London....

"scruffy, ugly, pointless, monstrous carbuncle - in the image of boris. also befits the ugly, clunky, unintelligent olympic logo. poor old stratford - as if its depressing impoverished post-industrial backdrop hasn't got enough to contend with"

A further comment from Phil in France....

"Looks like a first attempt to build China's 'Bird's Nest' that went horribly wrong. I believe Britain can do a lot better."

i'm on a rant now - @ merle in london - what patronising shite about stratford - it is almaost as if she has never been there - poor old stratford - depressing impoverished post-industrial backdrop - arrgggghhhhh!!!!!

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These people who write into the papers sound like typical anti-Olympic moaners who just love to whinge about anything to do with London 2012.Eg:

Q.What do you think of London hosting 2012?

A.Total waste of time and money.They'll be a disaster.Should have let Paris host 'em.

Q.What do you think of the logo?

A.It's rubbish.It's ugly.Complete waste of money.

Q.What do you think of the new Olympic stadium?

A.It's rubbish.It's ugly.Complete waste of money.

Q.What do you think of the plans to transform Stratford East?

A.They're rubbish.They'll destroy the character of the area.Complete waste of money.

What do you think of Boris Johnson's proposed new tower?

It's rubbish.It's ugly.Complete waste of money.

And so on and so forth ad nauseam until after the Games are over.

Now,don't get me wrong.Sometimes the criticisms may be justified.Personally I'm no fan of Boris and his proposed new tower does look a bit over-the-top to me.It's just that a lot of these negative comments seem to come from people who hate anything to do with the Olympics anyway and will always have something dismissive to say,no matter what is proposed.So I'm sceptical yet again about a lot of them.

As with the logo furore,it's all really a storm-in-a-teacup compared to the larger task of organising and implementing 2012 and,in the end,that is what really matters!

And who knows what this wretched tower will look like if it ever gets built.Just as the people of Paris detested the very thought of the Eiffel Tower when it was first proposed to them and then came to love it as the symbol of their city...who can say what people's reactions may be once the thing is in place.As with so much else to do with 2012,let's just wait and see! B)

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oh for god's sake get over yourself! let's get lots of quotes from internet boards and give air to loads of nimbys and even worse "you could build a hospital for this price" people. i hate the logo - i hate this - i hate that - looks like poo - i could do better - worse than atlanta - i hate myself - i hate the government - i hate i hate i hate! no one has had anything constructive to say other than - dare i say it - purile and sometimes pseudo racist shite!

that said it is not my cup of tea but i am trying to understand what the artist is doing and trying to keep calm and carry on - btw i hate the mascots - dreadful - what were they thinking of - not at all british - must have been designed by a homosexual or an indian lol!

There is a general consensus that this thing is a mistake, mess, piece of crap... you neither have to be racist or homophobic to express the obvious :)

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It's just that a lot of these negative comments seem to come from people who hate anything to do with the Olympics anyway and will always have something dismissive to say,no matter what is proposed.

That is unfair. I'd say the majority of the members in this forum topic are avid fans of the Olympics, me included. And the majority here dislike this project immensely. We aren't just going to say "yeah this is a great tower/monument", just because it's connected with the Olympics in London. I'll call a spade a spade, and this planned tower is horrific.

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If it's ugly as a small drawing, can you imagine how it will be 1000x over? And then you would've already spent the money. Where do they get these 'creators'?

God knows, but easy on the criticisms... the Brit crowd can only take so much, before pride forces them to defend this blatantly horrific thing.

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Im a big supporter of the logo, the stadium, the brand, everything they are doing. Im not a fan of the tower at the moment, but Im hoping to be bought round.

I would love to say at some point, I was wrong, Its amazing. Hopefully when its being built as some suggest it will be more pleasing on the eye, only time will tell.

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lol, could be!

It seems as though most Brits and others, really really dislike this project. Whether I read the comments on the Guardian, Daily Mail, or Independent websites.

A comment from Merle in London....

"scruffy, ugly, pointless, monstrous carbuncle - in the image of boris. also befits the ugly, clunky, unintelligent olympic logo. poor old stratford - as if its depressing impoverished post-industrial backdrop hasn't got enough to contend with"

A further comment from Phil in France....

"Looks like a first attempt to build China's 'Bird's Nest' that went horribly wrong. I believe Britain can do a lot better."

Michelle, I honestly thought you were better than to equate internet newspaper comments with general concensus. I'm not saying more people like it than don't at this stage, but c'mon....if those comments sections underneath newspaper stories were a true litmus test of what people thought in this country, it'd be a bloody horrible place to live.

I'm not the only one who's willing to give the tower a chance either, as you claimed. Opinion on another forum I post on is split pretty well 50/50 over whether this will be any good. And actually, before this thread goes any further, I'm not a supporter of this tower. I'm rather torn at the moment. There are several people over on SSC who absolutly love it. I'm yet to be convinced, and am open minded about it given that all we've seen are a few renders, nearly all from an angle 99% of people in London won't see it from anyway. I'm certainly not going to be swayed on the merits or otherwise of it by some comments on newspaper websites, as if they're ever a good indicator of cultural worth!

We get you don't like it, that's fine, but I'm happy saying "I don't know what to think yet", and I'm a little surprised you're using concensus on newspaper comments sections to back up your viewpoint; a viewpoint which is completely valid without resorting to such tactics. It's art, we have different opinions on it.

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That is unfair. I'd say the majority of the members in this forum topic are avid fans of the Olympics, me included. And the majority here dislike this project immensely. We aren't just going to say "yeah this is a great tower/monument", just because it's connected with the Olympics in London. I'll call a spade a spade, and this planned tower is horrific.

Please read my post again.I was not,of course, referring to the members of this forum (all of whom share an obvious interest in the Olympics) but to the kind of people who write into newspapers,of the sort you quoted.

I'm admittedly not all that keen on the rendering myself but I'm willing to give it a chance and make a more considered judgement after it is built!

It would help if a few more people on here would lighten up a little and concentrate on the planning for the Olympics itself.That is what is important after all! B)

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