I am beginning to fear that this is it. This is what people at ground level will see for 99% of the time. Seen through a telephoto the i360 tower appears to have been capped off with a shallow dome, undetectable from the ground, and a warning light. Only for brief periods, when the pod is poised at the top of the tower will the purpose of the tower be evident and the design of its finial irrelevant.
The original design provided for the tower to be surmounted by a vertical rotor wind turbine. As well as providing some green power for the operation of the lift this would also have had the advantage of distinguishing the tower unambiguously from an oversize industrial chimney stack.
The wind turbine idea was dropped however due to fears of its effect on the wind dynamics of the tower. No equivalent visual substitute has so far been installed. As far as appearance goes the tower appears to be no longer in accordance with the plans approved.
How anyone can consider this ghastly structure to be either an attraction or appropriate in a Regency city beats me.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the wretched, ghastly-looking thing collapses (with nobody being hurt, of course...)
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