London Olympics – The Gherkin
The brief was to provide a scale size model emulating the look of the Gherkin with the ‘twist’ that a number of trapeze artists would run around it and jump through it. This was an interesting technical challenge for the engineer and design office who had to evaluate how what the additional forces would be onto the structural elements of the Gherkin. In additon, we supplied two professional trampolines enabling the artists to bounce and do their stuff. This piece also had to reside on the slope of the stage, like all the other pieces, and again, was covered in the news print. The Gherkin was designed to be lowered during the show so it could be removed from the field of play during the running of the closing ceremony.
