Artist Anish Kapoor hopes the public will come to love his “edgy and awkward” Olympics sculpture, the ArcelorMittal Orbit.
Speaking before the 114.5 metre tower reopens to the public on Saturday, Kapoor said it could not be described as beautiful but was “unforgettable”.
“A lot of people have been quick to judge it without having really seen it. But it’s a piece about being in it, going up in it, so I say, “hold your horses, go and see it”,” he said.
“And the views are spectacular. It’s a view of London you never get, looking west-wards. You’re looking out over the city rather than from it. And you’re in a telescope with two big concave mirrors that turn you upside down, that change the perspective of what you’re looking at.”
Kapoor said he was pleased to have been part of the 2012 Games. “Building something for the Olympics, especially when it doesn’t have a purpose, was curious.
“Yet it forms a sort of emblem of the national celebration,” he added.
After the Games the Orbit shut down while Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was transformed. Tickets for the Orbit start from £7 for children and £15 for adults.
