If Zeus ever decides to come down off Mount Olympus and check out the modern world, he’ll be pleased to discover all sorts of fun new toys to smite mortals with. Who needs lightning bolts when you can throw transmission towers around?
“Bullet From a Shooting Star,” a transmission tower (AKA “electricity pylon”) turned on its head, is one of the landmark projects that will be featured at this year’s London Design Festival, which runs September 19th — 27th. Designed by concept artist Alex Chinneck, the 35 meter high, 15-ton steel structure pays homage to the industrial history of the Greenwich Peninsula, a site which was once home to the largest oil and gas works in Europe.
The structure’s insane angle creates the illusion that it was shot through the Earth. Visible from many miles away, Bullet From a Shooting Star will act as a beacon, at night projecting a lattice of light and shadows. Don’t worry though — as precarious as it looks, the structure’s foundation will include 19 meter-deep piles buried within 78 cubic meters of concrete, which should be more than enough support to keep the thing from collapsing on ill-fated drivers. We hope.
Images courtesy of Alex Chinneck
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