About me
Bookshop

Get new posts by email.

About me

Photo-a-day 261: O2

20120917-215620.jpg

No prizes for guessing where I’ve been tonight… The Millennium Dome, now the O2, Richard Rogers’s homage to the Festival of Britain’s Dome of Discovery. Its time-obsessed dimensions reflect the reason for its construction: 12 pillars, one pillar for each month of the year; 52m high, one metre for each week of the year; a diameter of 365m, one metre for each day of the year. And there’s that remarkable statistic that the 1mm-thick glass-fibre fabric of the roof weighs less than than the air contained within the dome itself, yet could support the weight of a jumbo jet.

In the furore over the Dome’s innards, it’s often forgotten that the building itself was constructed in just 15 months, and – at £43m – substantially under-budget.

It’s hard to believe that it’s twelve years since my family and I first visited the site, to see the much-maligned (though highly rated by 85% of actual visitors) Millennium Experience. We had a great time, though I recall that we were really rather baffled over what the unifying theme of the attractions was supposed to be.

I’ve returned quite a few times since, usually just to grab dinner when in London and nearby… which is exactly why I was there tonight!

This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2012, , .

Recently published posts

‘Sinterlation’ by Ian Randall / 21 November 2024

‘Landed’ by Les Johnson / 20 November 2024

A incurious ego / 18 November 2024

‘Types of Happiness’ / 17 November 2024

Herring gull / 16 November 2024

‘Small Things Like These’ / 15 November 2024




Random posts from the archive

ABC News: People of the Year / 31 December 2004

The Final Swing Update / 04 May 2005

Depress yourself / 20 June 2005

‘The End We Start From’ / 28 January 2024

Searching with sanity / 14 August 2024

TV debate urged for party chiefs / 10 February 2005





The content of this site is copyright protected by a Creative Commons License, with some rights reserved. All trademarks, images and logos remain the property of their respective owners. The accuracy of information on this site is in no way guaranteed. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author. No responsibility can be accepted for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information provided by this site. Information about cookies and the handling of emails submitted for the 'new posts by email' service can be found in the privacy policy. This site uses affiliate links: if you buy something via a link on this site, I might get a small percentage in commission. Here's hoping.