ArcelorMittal Orbit, Olympic Park In Stratford, London

John Graham-Cumming of The Guardian rejected the comparison's to the goal of being an icon like the Eiffel Tower, pointing out that that structure had not intended to be a lasting monument, only persisting into public acceptance as art through being useful, while also pointing out the Colossus of Rhodes collapsed within a few decades, and the Tower of Babel was "constructed to glorify those that constructed it." He suggested that Johnson should reconsider whether it should be pulled down after 20 years. Questioning its corporate role, he believed that meant it looked less and less like a work of art and more like a vanity project.
Responding to concerns from The Times that ArcelorMittal's sponsorship and naming of Orbit would represent an improper incursion of corporate branding into public life, Johnson stated that Olympic rules mean that the Orbit cannot carry any corporate branding during the games. Felicity Carus of The Guardian's environment blog questioned whether ArcelorMittal's record on carbon emissions was good enough to mean Orbit represented a fitting monument for the 2012 Olympics, billed as a 'world's first sustainable Olympics'.
A Guardian online poll published on the official launch, posing the question "Anish Kapoor's Olympic tower: a grand design?", recorded 38.6% for "Yes, it's a grand design" and 61.4% for "No, it's garbage".