2012 Olympics showpiece: Big bubbles in the sky

Artist's rendering of the Cloud structure envisioned for the 2012 Olympics in London.

(Credit: MIT Senseable City Laboratory)

An extensive team of engineers, designers, and architects from around the world unveiled plans on Monday to create a digitally connected structure to grace the 2012 Olympics in London.

The structure, called the Cloud, is both a physical and digital cloud designed to broadcast real-time data and images on spherical, three-dimensional screens. While the images would float high above the city, the sound would be broadcast at ground level.

Carlo Ratti, head of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a team leader on the project that includes experts from across the world and Google as a partner. Ratti is known for his work on a textualizing waterfall at the Zaragoza World's Fair in 2008, the Real Time Rome population-tracking project, and the EyeStop bus shelters throughout Florence, Italy.

Digital cloud set to hover above 2012 Olympics (images)

In a statement, Ratti referred to the Cloud as a "new form of collective expression and experience and an updated symbol of our dawning age: code rather than carbon."

The Cloud will power itself, using a combination of solar energy from photovoltaic panels installed both on- and off-site.

The team wants to build the Cloud from money donated by individuals and companies through a "cloud raising" effort that will use the digital cloud to solicit donations. Facebook, Twitter, and Google are already on board to support the effort. Google plans to run adds via YouTube and its search results pages, according to MIT.

The structure is flexible enough in design that it can be modestly built for $5 million or be expanded to a $50 million project, depending on how much money is raised.

In addition to the many artists, architects, engineers, and computer scientists collaborating on the project, the team also includes legendary author Umberto Eco among its advisers.

[frazerwilson]

Looks amazing, very ambitious ideas from a much hyped Olympics show, cant wait!

[jaguar717]

"collective expression"?<br />"code rather than carbon"?<br /><br />Ah yes. A wonderful combination of UN collectivism and control-freak ecoism.<br />How nice it must be to feed at the public trough and throw other people's money away on pomp and circumstance.<br /><br />How about just letting the athletes compete and trim the gaudy overhead?

[British_Swagger]

I think that its an amazing idea.<br />We are well into a Digital Era and should expect London to host a digital olympics.<br /><br />I've head that the top of the tower has hundreds of "dome" bubbles displaying images/videos of whats going on around the event.<br /><br />I wonder though what is lost if just the $5 million is met.

[sparrowhyperion]

IF this actually happens, My hat is off to the engineers. Unfortunately, engineers are notorious for dreaming big, but producing small.. The beancounters will pair it down to nothing in no time.

[MyRightEye]

Um, ok, that's just plain stupid.

Just what London needs, great big globs of frog spawn hanging over the Olympics. <br /><br />I'm hoping that someone is going to give this thing some structural stability. Unless they're planning on making it out of carbon nano-tubes it looks like it's seriously lacking any visible means of support. Love the way the spiral ramps just float in mid air. <br /><br />Maybe we should just inflate the beancounters with helium and have them tethered to a post so they can tell the crown how much money they saved us all. Ugh.

[BenFlavoredCandy]

They are giving it structural stability. I couldn't find the other articles I've read or I would link to them, but they are using cables to tie the structure in place. Structurally it should be fine, but it sounds like it will sway like the Hancock building before it was stiffened (cue nerdy engineer laughter).

[Spartan_458]

Why? I don't understand the purpose at all.

[rich_trenholm]

It's purpose is to look cool. The end

[mooseontheloose89]

here's hoping there's no wind during the olympics

[knowles2]

It a interesting design, I am personally hoping it get both funding an planning permission to be built. <br /><br />But CNET is a bit behind with the news, the design an other details been available on-line for the last few weeks on the architect site.

[QueSeraSera]

It's very unlikely that Brazil can top the lavish and spectacular 2008 Beijing Olympics.<br />But it doesn't hurt to try, right?

[506mulberry]

...hmm. It looks like a big smokestack to me.