Helsinki has just had its version of the London Eye retro-fitted with a sauna. And although we already make innovative use of our own wheel — for talks, dating and getting high — we reckon there are more ways we could be utilising those pods.
Rotating orangery
Here's a far thriftier concept than any Garden Bridge or Sky Garden: lemons, oranges and the like will thrive in the greenhouse environment of the pods, plus it'll smell nice and citrusy too. Rather than pay an entry fee, you spend your 30-minute rotation tending to the plants, while sipping a G&T with a pod-grown slice of lemon in it. Now THAT'S how you do a sky garden, Viñoly.
Mayor's question time
Politicians are apt at swerving questions — but that's not so easy to do when you're contained in a pod with your audience, dangling 130-odd metres above the South Bank. Sadiq/any other politician of your choice will then have no choice but to give straight answers to hard-hitting questions such as "What made you think turning the London Eye into a rotating orangery was a good idea?"
The 'force yourself to like something' pod
We all have something we know we should be into but don't have time to get into: Quinoa. The Killing. Your boyfriend. In a dedicated pod, you spend 30 solid minutes shovelling posh grain down your gullet/Scandi murder into your eyes/your boyfriend's conversation into your ears. If, by the time you step off the pod, your mind hasn't changed, at least you can move on with your life.
Graffiti pod
Mainstream London has embraced street art of late — so why not turn one of the Eye's pods into a perpetually moving, perpetually changing piece of urban art. Only lightning-quick artists need apply, as they'll only have a matter of moments to spray the outside of the pod as it docks at the bottom. With one artwork for each rotation, that's about 20 new pieces of art a day. As for the inside of the pod — that becomes a pop-up cafe/shop/bar — which also changes 20 times a day. London moves quickly people — try to keep up.
If you had free rein over a pod on the London Eye, what would you do with it? Tell us in the comments.
