A bit late on this news. Following the Frank Gehry announcement a couple of weeks ago, planning permission has been approved for the i360 in Brighton at the foot of the derelict West Pier.

From the press release: “Designed by the award-winning London Eye architects, husband and wife team David Marks and Julia Barfield. At 183 metres high and with the observation pod rising to 139 metres, the i360 will be Britain’s highest observation tower, taller than the London Eye (at 135m).”

During contruction, the West Pier debris (inluding the collapsed centre section) will be removed but the shell of the main body will be kept intact. The attracton is scheduled to open in Summer 2008.

Gehry’s “noddyland eyesore” gets go-ahead. I rather like it, but I just don’t think it’s right for the Regency-era Hove location that it’s set to be built in. If it were to be built at the architecturally dead Marina I’d be very much for it. That said, it’s an improvement over the King Alfred Leisure Centre that it’s replacing.

Sometimes bordering on the obsessively skeptical, Re-Imagineering is a great blog about the shortcomings of Disney theme parks today. The latest post, “Communi-clutter“, features a comparison of EPCOT Center’s Communicore of the 80s/early 90s and Epcot’s Innoventions of now. Same place, different time.

It’s clear that the practice of dumbing down and cheapening what were (and still are, underneath) fantastic architectural statements by The Disney Company is sadly now incredibly commonplace.

Three new WTC Towers were announced yesterday to compliment the Freedom Tower. From BBC News:

“The tallest of the skyscrapers, and the last to be built, will be topped by four diamonds that will point towards the memorial park from any vantage point in the city, architects say.

All building work on the site is due to be completed by 2012.”

Detailed information about the towers can be found on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation site.