Dundee will this weekend play host to a stunning and quirky piece of interactive art.
The People’s Tower project will be the first to take place on the Slessor Gardens and invites people of all ages to take part in an extravaganza of design, construction and finally destruction.
A giant cardboard recreation of the city’s historic – and long demolished – Royal Arch will take shape on the Slessor Gardens with the help of city residents.
The exciting video above shows, in time lapse, the building of the giant Norwich People’s Tower – one of the UK’s most successful such projects to date.
Erected in just a few hours in the heart of the Norfolk city, it was enjoyed for a few brief hours before being pulled to the ground and stomped to pieces.
The video shows local people of all ages waiting to pounce and then gleefully swarming over the structure in their hundreds.
It is hoped that Dundee’s People’s Tower will fire the imagination in just the same manner.
Ignite Festival of Design
The recreation of the city’s historic Royal Arch out of cardboard will be one of the high points of a month-long festival of culture and creativity.
The Ignite festival of creativity 2016 features the largest and most diverse programme to date and offers exhibitions, talks, workshops and open studios in venues across the city.
Volunteers needed to make the project a reality
Hundreds of volunteers, from school pupils to students and the staff of local businesses are currently building the 1,200 cardboard boxes that will be needed to create the four-storey structure on Saturday.
Organisers of the free event are, however, calling for hundreds more to come to Slessor Gardens, the new green space at Dundee’s waterfront, from 11am to help build it.
Producer, Claire Dow said: “Standing at over 16 metres high and 16 metres wide, we will need all the help they can get to lift the structure and tape the boxes into place.
“People can just come and go as they please but we need lots of people on site to help build it.”
Saturday’s event is expected to be finished by 2.30pm and the site is open all afternoon for visitors..
On Sunday at 1pm, the cardboard Royal Arch will be lowered and trampled in an impressive demolition.
The artist behind the People’s Towers
It has been created by French artist Olivier Grossetete, who responsible for helping design Peoples’ Towers all over the world.
He will arrive in Dundee on Friday to oversee the project.
Claire said: “Olivier’s People’s Towers are just spectacular, and our site in Slessor Gardens is the perfect setting to build something so monumental.
“The design is beautifully intricate and very close to the where the original Royal Arch was built.
“We’re all very excited to be a part of this amazing event after 6 months of planning.”
Anyone interested in helping to build the boxes in advance of the weekend event can find out more at www.facebook.com/cardboardarchdundee
The project timeline:
Saturday 28 May – Build Day sponsored by BAM
10.00 am 1,200 cardboard boxes are moved from workshop (Castle Street) to Slessor Gardens
11.00 am Event begins and public start to lift, tape and build as instructed.
Visitors can meet with Abertay Historical Society and pick up a free Royal Ach booklet ; Kids can colour in pictures of the Royal Ach which are to be projected onto the structure at night.
2.30 pm The People’s Tower: Dundee’s Royal Arch is completed
2.30-5.30 Site stays open to public
5.30 pm Site closed
10.00 pm Projections
Sunday 29 May – Demolition Day sponsored by Gowrie Contracts
12.00 noon Site opens
1.00 pm Demolition – organisers will hold ropes to lower the structure (public are Public are invited to trample on the cardboard boxes.
3.00 pm Cardboard is cleared away.
4.00 pm Site cleared and closed.
