TheQuantum Cloud is a contemporarysculpture, designed byAntony Gormley, located next toThe O2 inLondon. The sculpture was commissioned for the site and was completed in 1999.
At 30 metres (98 ft) in height, it is Gormley's tallest sculpture to date (taller than theAngel of the North). It is constructed from a collection oftetrahedral units made from 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) long sections of steel. The steel sections were arranged using a computer model with arandom walk algorithm starting from points on the surface of an enlarged figure based on Gormley's body that forms a residual outline at the centre of the sculpture.
In designingQuantum Cloud, Gormley was influenced byBasil Hiley, quantum physicist (and long-time colleague ofDavid Bohm). The idea forQuantum Cloud came from Hiley's thoughts onpre-space as a mathematical structure underlying space-time and matter,[1] and his comment that "algebra is the relationship of relationships." The comment was made during a conversation between Gormley, Hiley and writerDavid Peat at a 1999 London gathering of artists and scientists, organised by Peat.
The sculpture's structural design was byElliott Wood Partnership, while the foundation design was by Beckett Rankine. Fabrication was by Tubeworkers (Structures) Ltd.
Gormley'sQuantum Cloud is part ofThe Line, a series of art works that follow theGreenwich Meridian, through the London Boroughs ofGreenwich,Tower Hamlets andNewham.[2]
51°30′06″N0°00′33″E / 51.5018°N 0.0091°E /51.5018; 0.0091
