by Lawrence Buckley
Displaying an impressive imagination and masterful grasp of Paint, the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology plan to build a solar powered cloud above the Olympic Park as part of London’s lasting legacy from the games.
The 120 meter tall tower topped with large plastic bubbles that visitors will be able to walk around will be solar powered and take no energy from the grid. Instead it will use regenerative energy from the lifts breaks to display Olympic race results and weather information for the gathered spectators. Google, Umberto Eco and Arup are amongst its supporters with Google wanting to supply the information feeds.
One of the most interesting aspects of the cloud is its funding. The designers are asking for millions of micro donations via their website and will build the cloud according to the amount of money raised
“It’s really about people coming together to raise the Cloud,” Carlo Ratti, one of the architects behind the design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) told BBC News.
“We can build our Cloud with £5m or £50m. The flexibility of the structural system will allow us to tune the size of the Cloud to the level of funding that is reached.”
“Many tall towers have preceded this, but our achievement is the high degree of transparency, the minimal use of material and the vast volume created by the spheres,” said Professor Joerg Schleich, the structural engineer behind the towers and designer of the Munich Olympic Stadium.
Other finalists shortlisted in the competition set up by London Mayor Boris Johnson are thought to include the former Turner prize winner Anish Kapoor and Antony Gormley, the designer of the Angel of the North.
The results are yet to be announced but the team are determined to build the structure whether it wins or not. If you would like to be part of its sucsess you can donate via their website here.
