London’s latest tourist attraction, a $3 million pile of mud, forced to close after just two days
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
London’s latest tourist attraction, a $3 million pile of mud, forced to close after just two days
LONDON — Visitors to the British capital’s newest attraction, billed by officials as a venue for “striking views” of the city, are demanding refunds after the project turned out to be a patchy man-made mound surrounded by scaffolding — a site widely disparaged online as an underwhelming, muddy “monstrosity.”
Officials for the 82-foot-high Marble Arch Mound are offering to reimburse the price of admission, which ranged up to 8 pounds, or about $11, after conceding that the project wasn’t ready for public viewing and closing it until further notice.
According to British media, the City of Westminster — the district of London where Parliament meets — pumped 2 million pounds (close to $3 million) into the project, which it said would bring a “new and meaningful experience” to the capital.
Before the site opened to the public this week, officials had promised that it would attract tourists back to the heart of London, after more than a year of stringent coronavirus restrictions that left once-bustling areas deserted during a pandemic that claimed almost 130,000 lives in Britain.
One critic dismissed the mound as “an expensive exercise in pointlessness.”
The issues with the mound were spotlighted this week when freelance consultant Dan Barker visited it and documented his findings on Twitter — much to the delight of many followers. Barker, comparing the artist’s sketch of the mound to reality, wrote, “These plans never match reality, but it feels like they could probably clean the area up a bit.” He went on to share photos of supposed “360 degree views” obscured by leafy trees and areas “full of rubble.” In a statement, the City of Westminster Council acknowledged that “elements” of the attraction were “not ready” for visitors and said those displeased with their visit had been offered their money back — or a free second visit once the site is in better shape.
A groundswell of uninspired visitors took to social media to detail their experiences.
“Sure, the Marble Arch Mound doesn’t look like the designs but that seems like a weird hill to die on,” joked one user. An other uploaded photos alongside the caption: “Marble Arch Mound is the worst thing I’ve ever done in London.”
While many saw the funny side of London’s pile of dirt, others branded the entire structure a catastrophic waste of money. The mound was designed to offer a viewing platform for the Marble Arch, a 19th-century triumphal arch near Hyde Park.
MVRDV, the Dutch architectural team behind the Marble Arch Mound, defended its creation and asked visitors to give the attraction — and nature — time. The company, which describes itself on social media as a team that creates “happy and adventurous places,” blamed the chaos on London’s “challenging weather” and the unpredictability of working with plants, vowing that the artificial attraction would “get better,” the Daily Mail reported Thursday.
Among tourists and Londoners, confusion swirled as to why exactly the mound had been built.
“Why would I pay to walk up a hill?” one man told the BBC, while another said grudgingly: “I’d go if it was free.”
Tags
Who is online
453 visitors
You pay 11 dollars to walk up a hill and get a "view" of the surrounding neighborhood.
There must be quite a shortage of hills in London if they can charge people for the experience.
It appears to be about 10 stories high which is smaller than many apartment buildings in some cities.
The thing is that there is no shortage of things to say.
I think they were inspired to try something like NYC did with the "High Line", but ended up with a massive fail. NYC took a useless unused elevated train track and turned it into a 1.5 mile park with elevated views of the waterfront and the city.
Chicago’s new high line is ‘more than an elevated park’ | Chicago holidays | The Guardian
If you spend 11 dollars to climb a pile of mud, then you deserve to get ripped off.
Save your money for a drone and get a much better view without the climb.