London Eye, pioneering observation wheel, turns 25
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
On a clear day, tourists riding the wheel can spot Windsor Castle, the royal family’s 900-year-old home 40km away.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
LONDON – Tourists wanting a bird’s eye view of Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace have put the London Eye in the ranks of the city’s most visited attractions since it was opened 25 years ago.
The observation wheel, which offers visitors a 30-minute ride in a glass pod, was supposed to stand for five years before being dismantled, but its popularity led to it being made a permanent fixture on the River Thames in 2024.
On a clear day, tourists riding the wheel can spot Windsor Castle, the royal family’s 900-year-old home 40km away, while for Britons it has become synonymous with the city’s fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
The wheel was the idea of husband-and-wife architects David Marks and Julia Barfield to celebrate the millennium. Its shape symbolises the cycle of life.
“A circle has no beginning and no end. It is symbolic of the passing of time,” Ms Barfield told Reuters, adding that when it opened, it was one of the few options for a view of London from a height.
Since it started operating, the city’s skyline has been transformed by new skyscrapers that can be viewed from the wheel. All named after their shapes, The Gherkin opened in 2004, the Shard, London’s tallest building, followed in 2013, and the Cheesegrater in 2014.
About 3.5 million people pay from £29 (S$50) per ticket to ride the London Eye each year.
Its popularity has inspired dozens of copycat wheels in cities around the world. But at 135m tall, the London Eye remains the world’s largest cantilevered observation wheel.
The architects’ plan was for the attraction to revitalise a part of London’s South Bank, and one per cent of the attraction’s annual revenues are paid to help maintain the public area around. REUTERS
