| Architect |
Marks Barfield
Architects Arup Engineers |
| Date
Built |
Ceremonial
Opening, without passengers, December 31,
1999 Public Opening - March 2000 |
| The Queen's Walk | |
| Description |
|
Standing 135 metres high with a diameter of
120 metres, the London Eye has dominated the
Southbank across from the Houses of
Parliament since it was erected at the end
of 1999. Meant as a millennium project
and initially known as the Millennium Wheel,
it was, when erected, the World's tallest
Ferris Wheel. Over the intervening
years it has been surpassed on a number of
occasions but it still describes itself as,
"... the world’s largest cantilevered
observation wheel".  Arranged around the
wheel are 32 air-conditioned, ovoid,
transparent capsules each capable of
accommodating 25 passengers. Each
pod weighs 10 tonne. The wheel was
brought to the site in sections, assembled
on platforms in the river, then lifted
into position
 The architect's website includes a number of quotes about the Eye including these: “In pursuing their dream Marks and Barfield have given London something remarkable - huge in scale but light in feeling. Technology has been pursued to an extreme and produced an aesthetic refinement to which the public have responded with extraordinary enthusiasm” Sir Jeremy Dixon, Architecture Today, May 2000 “The London Eye has put architecture, design and engineering centre stage by catching the imagination of the British public and of visitors to London, and by becoming one of the city’s most popular landmarks. The Eye attracted more than two million paying visitors in its first six months” Sir Christopher Frayling, 2001  The Eye has won a number of awards including:
 The wheel circulates
at a rate of 24 cm a second and makes
one complete revolution in approximately
30 minutes. It does not need to
stop to load passengers because at that
speed they can leave and enter as the
pod doors open adjacent to the
platforms. It can be stopped
though to assist disabled or elderly
passengers to enter or leave.
   The Eye is equipped
with LED lights controlled by a digital
system allowing the operator to change
the colour of the wheel and the
pods. The eye has become the focal
point for London's New Years Eve
firework spectaculars when it becomes a
launching pad for fireworks and adds in
its own light show.
  |
|
|
London
Eye, Lambeth, London
 |
