Eleanor Harris: An Eye on British Airways i360

A Very “Brighton” Company

There are very few cities that are an adjective, but you frequently hear people say something is very “Brighton”.

This expression is used to sum up the quirky, creative, anti-establishment, fun and culturally diverse essence that flows through the city. We are a city of creatives and entrepreneurs: Brighton has the fourth highest rate of start up businesses per capita of any city in the UK and according to the latest Tech Nation report, Brighton has the highest density of digital companies in the UK.

Leading contemporary historian, Sir Anthony Seldon said “Brighton and Hove is like no other city or seaside town in Britain or northern Europe…. When it has been bold and imaginative it has been successful. When it has been safe and inward looking it has failed.”

“The ‘i’ in BA i360 stands for independence and innovation”

British Airways i360 is certainly bold and daring. It pushes the boundaries of architecture and engineering: this week we received a Guinness World Record as the world’s most slender tower. It is also the world’s first vertical cable car and the world’s tallest moving observation tower.

This follows in a great tradition of boundary pushing both in Brighton and Sussex and creating unique attractions: the Volks Railway was the first public electric railway when it opened in 1883 and is still popular today. The aquarium (now SEA LIFE) designed by Eugenius Birch who was the architect of the West Pier housed a hundred-foot tank holding 110,000 gallons, which was the largest display tank in the world at that time. Rather fittingly, Devil’s Dyke was home to Britain’s first cable car, which operated from 1894 to 1909.

British Airways i360 has also been described by critics as a “bonkers oversized flag pole”; and what better symbol for the city’s creativity and quirkiness than a slightly bonkers new piece of architecture. It fits in well with the city’s other most famous landmark, the Royal Pavilion – a flamboyant, slightly bonkers looking pleasure palace.

And our company – rather appropriately – is a small start up run by a group of entrepreneurs. The ‘i’ in i360 stands for independence and innovation. We would describe ourselves as “very Brighton”.

www.britishairwaysi360.com
Twitter/Instagram: @ba_i360
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