Eugenius Birch Spiral
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The Eugenius Birch Spiral is a space alongside the i360 containing 24 of the surviving pillars from the West Pier, arranged in a spiral pattern in a commissioned artwork designed by Steve Geliot. The Spiral was installed on the Piazza directly to the East of the i360 in 2017.
The pillars are each surrounded by a circular patterned cast iron plate into which are set upward-aimed LED lights that illuminate the pilalrs at night time. In the centre of the spiral is a cast iron plate with the image of a half-sun over the date 1866, and perimeter text reading "WEST PIER" / "DESIGNER: EUGENIUS BIRCH".
Cleanup
The 24 pillars are those that were found to be the "best of the batch" after the available loose West Pier pillars were sent to the Swan Foundry for cleanup and evaluation. Cleaning involved gentle sandblasting to remove dirt and aggregates and sharp edges, but subtly enough done to preserve the natural shapes caused by weathering and seawater corrosion. The result is that the pillars look as if they haven't been treated, but are clean and safe for visitors to touch.
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