ArcelorMittal ORBIT Like many parents we try pathetically With the help of a panel of experts, to improve our kids by taking them to including Nick Serota and Julia Peyton- see the big exhibitions. We have trooped Jones, we eventually settled on Anish. through the Aztecs and Hockney and He has taken the idea of a tower, and Rembrandt – and yet of all the shows transformed it into a piece of modern we have seen there is only one that really British art. seemed to fire them up. It would have boggled the minds of the I remember listening in astonishment as Romans. It would have boggled Gustave they sat there at lunch, like a bunch of Eiffel. I believe it will be worthy of art critics, debating the intentions of the ’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, artist and the meaning of the works, and worthy of the greatest city on earth. but agreeing on one point: that these In helping us to get to this stage, were objects of sensational beauty. I especially want to thank David McAlpine That is the impact of on and Philip Dilley of Arup, and everyone Our ambition is to turn the young minds, and not just on young at the GLA, ODA and LOCOG. I am Stratford site into a place of minds. His show at the Royal Academy grateful to Tessa and also to Sir Robin destination, a must-see item on broke all records, with hundreds of Wales and Jules Pipe for their the tourist itinerary – and we thousands of people paying £12 to see encouragement and support. his stuff – an extraordinary achievement believe the ArcelorMittal Orbit Above all I want to thank Lakshmi Mittal for a contemporary artist. will help us achieve that aim. for his superb generosity and his So I am thrilled that we are today commitment to London. Had I not announcing that Anish has won a bumped into him, for the first time, competition to design an Olympic in a Davos cloakroom, we would not visitor attraction to be built in the be where we are today. park for 2012. Our conversation took about 45 seconds. Of course some people will say we are I explained the idea, which took 40 nuts – in the depths of a recession – to seconds. “Great. I’ll give you the steel,” be building Britain’s biggest ever piece of he said, and that was it. In reality, public art. But both and I are ArcelorMittal has given much more certain that this is the right thing for the than the steel. Stratford site, in Games time and beyond. We are not there yet, but I have Our Olympic Park already has so much great confidence in the team we have to offer, from the stadium and velodrome assembled, in the ODA led by David to shopping at Westfield to Zaha Hadid’s Higgins and the organisational skills aquatics centre. But about 18 months of Peter Rogers. ago we decided we needed something So watch this space, folks. Correction: extra, something to distinguish the east don’t just watch this space. I hope you will London skyline, something to arouse the soon be able to see this space being built, curiosity and wonder of Londoners and to climb up it with your family, and to be visitors. amazed at the view. With £9.3 billion going into the Games, we need to do everything we can to regenerate the area and to ensure the crowds are still coming here in 2013 and beyond. Our ambition is to turn the Stratford site into a place of destination, a must-see item on the tourist itinerary – and we believe the ArcelorMittal Orbit will help us achieve that aim. I must confess that my original idea was much more modest. I thought we might have a kind of 21st century Trajan’s column, with a winding frieze of modern Londoners, perhaps done by primary school children. That was soon left on the drawing board, eclipsed by the daring suggestions of some of the greatest artists in the world.

2 3 What was your initial reaction when How much steel will be used What was it about the design that Boris first suggested the idea of an in the project and where will made it stand out from the other Olympic Park sculpture? it come from? submissions? Boris first mentioned it to me in a The ArcelorMittal Orbit will use Last year we held a competition and cloakroom in Davos last year. We were approximately 1400 tonnes of steel. asked people to submit a design for both on our way to separate dinner The steel will be sourced from an Olympic tower. We had around 50 engagements so we had only a few ArcelorMittal plants around the world, submissions, which was fantastic in itself, moments to discuss it. But I was with exact locations depending on the but what was really extraordinary was immediately interested because grades of steel required and the technical the way in which the word ‘tower’ was I remember the great excitement requirements of the project. As much of interpreted by the different artists. felt throughout the city when it was it as possible will be provided by The judging panel made a unanimous announced that London had been ArcelorMittal. decision to go for Anish and Cecil’s selected to host the 2012 Olympic and design. Anish and Cecil have a unique, Paralympic Games. I think the Games are Who came up with the name well-documented and very successful one of the few truly iconic global events; ArcelorMittal Orbit? working relationship. They have created they really bring people together, as some remarkable art in recent years, countries unite around the desire to win. The Orbit was the name given to the initial working design by Anish and Cecil. and the judging panel really felt that their The 2012 Games are now only two years Their creation is an orbit, a continuous entry not only represented the essence away and I think everyone in London loop or continuous journey from the start of the Games, but it was also buildable wants to put on an amazing show for the to the finish. There are no crossroads or within an ambitious time frame. world. So when Boris mentioned the idea links, it starts at one end and finishes at We are delighted with the outcome. of constructing a special piece of art to the other. We have a bold, beautiful and magnificent commemorate the Olympics, I was sculpture which, when built, will be one of fascinated to know more, particularly This was very much part of Anish and Lakshmi N. Mittal “I live in London – I’ve lived here since 1997 – the world’s largest sculptures. We think it when he said he wanted it to be built Cecil’s creative representation of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Olympics and the extraordinary physical will be a phenomenal addition to London’s ArcelorMittal and I think it’s a wonderful city. This project is an from steel. and emotional effort that people skyline and the cultural landscape. incredible opportunity to build something really I live in London – I’ve lived here since undertake when they compete. Like the spectacular for London, for the Olympic Games 1997 – and I think it’s a wonderful city. Orbit, the Olympics has a beginning and When will the sculpture This project is an incredible opportunity end but throughout it is a continuous be complete? and something that will play a lasting role in the to build something really spectacular for drive to do better, to challenge oneself We will be starting work as soon as London, for the Olympic and Paralympic to do as well as possible. legacy of the Games.” Games and something that will play a possible and we anticipate it will be lasting role in the legacy of the Games. So while it started off as the name of complete by the end of December 2011 the working design, we all liked it and felt at the latest. Visitors will have access to Why is ArcelorMittal funding that it represented both the Games and the ArcelorMittal Orbit during and after what the sculpture is in a creative sense. the Games. It will also be available for this project? We called it the ArcelorMittal Orbit hospitality and will offer a wonderful ArcelorMittal is a global company with because ArcelorMittal is supporting the view of the stadium. operations in more than 60 countries. project and is proud to be the company Our purpose is to produce steel. Steel is that is enabling such a unique piece of How do you think Londoners used in so many aspects of life: the cars art to be constructed. will react to the sculpture? we drive, the houses we live in and the stadiums being constructed for the I hope they react very positively. I hope London 2012 Games. Building a huge this great piece of art will become steel structure to celebrate the London another reason for people to visit London Olympic and Paralympic Games is a and, in particular, draw them to that area great opportunity for ArcelorMittal to of the city. Anish Kapoor is undoubtedly showcase the unique qualities of steel one of the world’s greatest living artists and its critical role in the world’s and I hope the people of London will feel infrastructure. It is also a fantastic way proud that such a unique sculpture is to give a lasting gift to London, to play a being built in their city to celebrate the part in the regeneration of a specific area Games. We at ArcelorMittal are certainly of London and to signal our support for proud to be part of it. an iconic global sporting event.

4 5 Anish Kapoor and on Anish Kapoor, who was born in Mumbai As well as taking on numerous projects the inspiration and creative process but has lived and worked in London since independently – Kapoor’s acclaimed behind the ArcelorMittal Orbit. arriving as a teenager to study art, first in Chicago and Balmond’s came to national prominence on winning work on Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium The key to the unique collaborations by the in 1991. Over the spring to mind – the pair has maintained Cecil Balmond and Anish Kapoor lies in following decade his work became a fruitful partnership. They are currently the pair’s refusal to be labelled. increasingly grand in scale, frequently working together on the ‘Tees Valley It’s tempting to pigeonhole Cecil Balmond employing apparently simple curved Giants’ project – five enormous pieces as the down-to-earth pragmatist who forms that housed a series of apertures of public art commissioned by Tees counterbalances the visionary fantasies and cavities. In 1999 his 35-metre tall Valley Regeneration – as well as the of Anish Kapoor – to categorise him as Taratantara was installed at Gateshead’s ArcelorMittal Orbit. the structural technician bringing the Baltic Flour Mills, followed by his Sky “We are both interested in a place where artist’s creative genius to reality. Mirror, erected outside the Nottingham architecture meets sculpture,” says Tempting, but misleading. Playhouse to reflect the sky and Kapoor. “We are also really into geometry surroundings in 2001 (and later Such a straightforward analysis of their and the way that form and geometry give replicated in even larger form outside roles in creating some of the world’s rise to structure – that’s been an ongoing New York’s Rockefeller Center). great monumental artworks is far too debate between Cecil and me for the last simplistic, and does not do justice to the But it wasn’t until Kapoor was invited ten years or so, coming from our two individuals’ talent and broad vision. to provide the installation for the very different perspectives.” Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2002 that he Of course, the 56-year-old Kapoor is an They meet regularly to sketch and draw first worked with Cecil Balmond. By this artist, while Balmond, a decade older, is a as well as assess models and computer stage, the quietly spoken Balmond had structural engineer by trade. But they are animations, frequently checking back that already shifted the perceived role of the both unconstrained by these convenient the work adheres to “the fundamental engineer in architecture from enabler labels. Over his 30-year career, Kapoor truth of the project”. to co-creator via his ground-breaking Anish Kapoor “We are both interested in a place where architecture has developed a reputation for grand- work with Koolhaas’s OMA group and The latest challenge for this unique scale installations and public sculptures, Cecil Balmond his realisation of the captivating 2002 artistic partnership is bigger than ever: meets sculpture,” says Kapoor. “We are also really effectively blurring the lines between the Serpentine Pavilion in conjunction with creating a highly significant monumental fields of art and architecture, between into geometry and the way that form and geometry Japanese architect Ito. artwork that is effectively a functioning concept and construction, form and building at the same time, neither pure give rise to structure – that’s been an ongoing debate function. So ‘trespassing’ into the art world felt like sculpture nor pure architecture. an entirely natural step for a man who between Cecil and me for the last 10 years or so, Similarly Balmond, Deputy Chairman describes himself as an intuitive rather But the relationship between these of global engineering company Arup, than mathematical thinker. However, two men – spurring each other forward, coming from our two very different perspectives.” has long forged highly productive Balmond has recalled how Kapoor was finding solutions to material and relationships with many of the world’s “an artist who is not used to sharing” – structural obstacles and challenging leading architects including Rem who had to be persuaded to work in our very notion of stability, space and Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind and Toyo Ito. genuine collaboration to create a form – both reflects and enhances the He has also designed buildings and buildable structure for the Tate project. possibilities inherent when creative structures himself, is an acclaimed author disciplines coalesce. All we can do is in the field of design and heads up Arup’s That structure evolved into , the expect the unexpected. Advanced Geometry Unit (AGU), extraordinary 450-feet blood-red PVC a quasi-academic research group which tubular sculpture that, like many of blends science, maths and architectural Balmond’s pieces, seemed to defy gravity. design to ‘explore the impossible’ in terms Interestingly, Balmond recalls that the of . art world heaped praise on Kapoor for creating a wonderful piece of art, So the coming together of two such while the architecture critics raved multidisciplined creative talents always over Balmond’s feat of engineering. had the potential to produce work of significant impact, not least because “Sculpture is about seeing something both parties have a reputation for in 3D from the outset, whereas most thinking far beyond the conventional. architects tend to see things in plan form. Anish tells me I think more like a sculptor, “It’s important for every structure and he finds fertile ground in working to have a sense of the poetic,” says with us (at AGU) in that respect,” Balmond. “We want people to forget says Balmond. the engineering, the construction, the materials and simply ‘experience’ it.” To illustrate this point, he uses the analogy of a world-record breaking athlete: we don’t want to know about the years of hard training, we simply want to witness the magic of someone running faster than ever before.

6 7 8 9 AK: It’s this notion of a journey that I have a team of architects and engineers takes you upwards. in my Advanced Geometry Unit (AGU) at Arup. It is a very special group, including Anish and I have debated over the Daniel Bosia and Florian Gauss. They have years about nonlinearity, which is using been instrumental in realising this project. instabilities as stabilities. It’s a new way of thinking, a radical new piece of structure and architecture and art, What will the ArcelorMittal Orbit and London is the place to do it. mean for the Olympics, and for London? Can you explain the form, With the Olympic Village and the whole and how it works? area being developed, this sculpture CB: What is new in this piece is its completes the composition and adds a geometry and how it’s been put together. fabulous exclamation mark. It celebrates In conversation with Anish Kapoor the site. All tower structures are pyramidal, but and Cecil Balmond. we wanted to see if we could create a This is not just for the Olympics, this is structure that seemed unstable, seemed for London, and the ArcelorMittal Orbit How did the ArcelorMittal Orbit to be propping itself up. So, we’ve slowly should stand the test of time. come about? evolved a form that seems to be This site, while it looks over London, AK: Cecil and I have worked together teetering, weaving itself, a loop. is a bit of virgin land where one can over a long period of time. We were The whole thing is in a twist, it’s never set the parameters again. Viewing is invited by the Mayor’s office to submit centred, never quite vertical. That takes a very important part of what it is. a proposal for a tower of at least 100 a certain amount of engineering prowess It is a radical piece of work, and that metres, on the Olympic site. Tower to put together but it also gives a always attracts its own interest in time. structures are something we’ve toyed certain form. Something that has its own intrigue in around with before, so it seemed natural architectural terms will always draw to us to take this on and try and understand What is the significance of the people. It’s for the Olympics, London what a 21st century tower could be like. material used in constructing and the world. CB: The opening comment to me was the ArcelorMittal Orbit? “Boris Johnson is looking for an icon to How will people who visit the CB: The ArcelorMittal Orbit could really match the ”. So of course ArcelorMittal Orbit engage with it, that was irresistible to me. only be built in steel, to give the minimum thicknesses and the maximum strength. do you think? What inspired you in this work? I didn’t really think of any other material. CB: I believe we all love to see something Actually, you couldn’t really do this coiling being built. As kids we all play with AK: One of the references was the Tower structure in anything else. building blocks. The real three of Babel. There is a kind of medieval dimensionality of this piece is going to sense to it of reaching up to the sky, Tell me a bit about the way the two animate and excite people to be part of it. building the impossible. A procession, if of you collaborated on this project. you like. It’s a long winding spiral: a folly There comes a moment when you are that aspires to go even above the clouds AK: We are really interested in geometry aware that a piece has been engineered and has something mythic about it. and the way that form and geometry give and I am fighting against that. Ultimately rise to structure, and that’s something it has to be designed, calculated, built and What I’m interested in is the way 21st that’s an ongoing debate between us constructed, but you should not notice century thinking about older technologies from our two very different perspectives. the effort. allows one to go both forwards and backwards. CB: Over the years, Anish and I have AK: The experience will be about winding been debating and trying to find the up and up and in on oneself. It is a long The form straddles Eiffel and Tatlin. essence of a form that has its own way to walk. And it’s pretty steep. Then CB: The word Orbit came to mind; architecture, sculpture and structure. of course at the top we have a truly just the word as a metaphor. We started By merging these into one piece of work, spectacular view of London. sketching, the hand went round this we think it has deep resonance more than You want to forget the construction and way first, then it gradually became more any single piece of art or architecture. engage with what you’re experiencing. complex and I was thinking of an electron Scale is a vital part of this process. We’re People will make it their own. cloud moving. As you look up you will feel talking of something that is 120 metres as if it’s compiling itself in space. tall. The spaces in between the structure are cathedral like; they’re very tall, very big. In between the mass and the jumble of it, there’s the geometry. All the people who work with me are great 3D thinkers. In the world of architecture a lot of people design in section, but a sculpture is seeing something in 3D from the outset.

10 11 Anish Kapoor is one of the most influential His recent major solo exhibition at Cecil Balmond’s work is an open-ended Balmond is the author of “No. 9” (1998), sculptors of his generation. the Royal Academy of Arts in London visual application of theory. It has led and “Informal” (2002), which won (26 September – 11 December 2010), to what could be described as a new the Banister Fletcher prize for the best Born in Bombay in 1954, he has lived showcasing a number of new and forensic in aesthetics: a distillation of book of the year on architecture. and worked in London since the early 70s. previously unseen works, was the most unrealised design potential that taps into The publication of his latest book He studied at Hornsey College of Art, successful ever presented by a sources that are not readily associated “Element” (2007) coincided with the London (1973 – 1977) and at Chelsea contemporary artist in London. with architecture. It is also a compelling opening of the series, Frontiers of School of Art, London (1977 – 1978). design force for architecture where Architecture at Louisiana Museum of His first solo exhibition was held at Patrice Balmond’s principle that structure is Modern Art, Denmark with a widely Alexandre, Paris in 1980. His international architecture puts a whole new rigour into acclaimed exhibition on Cecil Balmond’s reputation was quickly established with his forms overlapping art with science. and the Advanced Geometry Unit’s work. an array of solo exhibitions held in various He says: “I see structure as a punctuation Balmond’s installation, H-edge, was first countries around the world. He has of space, episodic and rhythmic. These unveiled at Artists Space in New York represented Britain in the Paris Biennale are wholly architectural concerns.” (2006). He rebuilt it for The Graham in 1982, and again in 1990 at the Venice Foundation for Advanced Studies in Anish Kapoor Biennale, for which he was awarded Cecil Balmond Cecil Balmond founded The Advanced Deputy Chairman of the Fine Arts in Chicago together with Premio Duemila. Geometry Unit at Arup in 2000 to pursue Ove Arup & Partners Limited a number of new installation pieces such ideas in the built form. It has been The following year he won the prestigious (2008-2009). H-edge is currently at highly influential in a raft of renowned Turner Prize Award. He recently acted as the Carnegie Museum of Art; meanwhile, projects including Casa de Musica, in Guest Artistic Director of the Brighton the Tokyo City Opera gallery is hosting Portugal, with ; Marsyas Festival 2009. He was elected Royal an exhibition of Balmond’s designs that at the , with artist Anish Academician in 1999 and has been opened in January 2010. The Tokyo Kapoor; and Serpentine Pavilions, with awarded Honorary Fellowships by the exhibition is a tour-de-force, introducing Daniel Libeskind and Toyo Ito, plus Alvaro London Institute and Leeds University visitors to an art form that blurs the Siza and . (1997), University of Wolverhampton boundaries between art, architecture, His designs for the bridge in Coimbra, (1999) and the Royal Institute of British engineering and science. Portugal, the Weave bridge in Philadelphia, Architects (2001). and the museum buildings in the Emirates Cecil Balmond was born in Sri Lanka, create new typologies. where he trained as a civil engineer. He joined Arup in London in 1968.

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1 Marsyas, 2002 1 Danz er Installation PVC and steel Tokyo City Art gallery Inst: Tate Modern, 2002-2003 Photo: John Riddy Courtesy: Tate 2 Ins titute of the Pen Emirates

2 Dismemberment, Site I, 2003-2009 PVC and steel 3 Serpentine Gallery 25 metres x 84 metres 2002 (west end: 25 x 8 m, east end: 8 x 25m) Photo: Jos Wheeler 4 C CTV Headquarters Building Courtesy: the artist Beijing

3 Cloud Gate, 2004 5 W eave Bridge Anish Kapoor Philadelphia Stainless steel 33 ft x 66 ft x 42 ft Millennium Park, Chicago Photo: Peter.J.Schluz , Patrick Pyszka Courtesy: the City of Chicago and Gladstone Gallery

4 S vayambh, 2007 Wax and oil-based paint Dimensions variable Inst: Royal Academy of Arts, 2009 Photo: Dave Morgan Courtesy: the artist and Royal Academy of Arts

12 How is Anish Kapoor pushing the Art and sport seem like strange Thanks to all those who have boundaries of his own body of work bedfellows. Why should such participated in the development of the with this piece? collaborations be of interest to us? ArcelorMittal Orbit so far including: Anish Kapoor is an artist never content Art and sport are not as far apart as to rest despite his success. He is always people sometimes think. The Olympics Tony Aikenhead James Lough questioning himself and us and our were initially conceived as a festival of the Andrew Altman Barbara Marino responses to his work. He’s prepared body and the mind – that is to say sport to take on the idea of reinventing what and culture and the arts – and one of the Gareth Baker Ben McKnight a tower might mean and give it new great things about 2012 is that it will Emily Black Munira Mirza energy. Most towers are just vertical help to bring these elements back erections, but this has a twist – the together in a way that hasn’t been Giles Borton Serge Mitrovic energy you might traditionally associate achieved in previous Games. Daniel Bosia Michael Morris with this type of structure but in a Anish’s work has this sense of energy, surprisingly female form. The two Jan Boud Johanna Pearson Sir , Director, twist and excitement that one associates together are really interesting. Ben Cackett Julia Tate, on probing the parallels with the human body as it explodes off the blocks down the 100m straight. In Peyton-Jones between art and sport. Is it art or architecture? Neale Coleman an abstract form, the sense of movement Giles Read Anish Kapoor increasingly works on an you have in the body is very much Sujogya Dash Mike Richards Sir Nicholas Serota environmental scale, but his Marsyas present in this sculpture. As such, it’s the Nicola Davidson Director, Tate project at Tate Modern in 2003 showed perfect answer to the question of how Peter Rogers he’s capable of working on an sport and art come together – and it’s a Paul Deighton Malcolm Ross architectural scale. Cecil Balmond gives great commission as well. For someone to Pierre Engel that ambition a reality and conviction that help bring this into being in the way that Marion Saul a sculptor working on his own might not Mr Mittal has is a really impressive piece Simon Evans Stefan Schwarz achieve, so it’s a building designed in of patronage. Jerome Frost collaboration with a great engineer and Sir Nicholas Florian Gauss a great artist. I think it will make a What are the strengths of this Serota wonderful addition to the London skyline. kind of experiential installation Guto Harri Justine Simons compared with more traditional Samantha Hart sculpture? Mark Sorrell Dan Hawthorn A sculpture of this kind that can be Chris Townsend Oli Heywood enjoyed by walking through, travelling Hans up in the lift, and looking out from the David Higgins Ulrich-Obrist platform will make people aware of their own bodies and their place in the world. Roisha Hughes Sarah Wang Many artists have sought to control Patrick Le Pense Sarah Weir space in this way in recent years and this sculpture-cum-tower-cum-engineering David Lewis Patrick White feat is at the leading edge of where we James Lingwood Stevie are heading. White-McQuillan Sir Stuart Lipton Peter Wright Ian Louden Anita Zabludowicz

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