The age of the wheel
Stuart Jeffries
The first rose above Chicago in 1893. Now every status-conscious city, from Beijing to Baghdad, either has or wants one. What's the big attraction of the ferris wheel? And can they keep on getting higher? By Stuart Jeffries
When World Tourist Attractions erected a 60m-high ferris wheel in Birmingham's Centenary Square in 2003, there was an unexpected bonus. As passengers rose in their gondolas above canals, tower blocks, dual carriageways and derelict factories, they heard a commentary in French. The Birmingham wheel, you see, had previously been installed in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/feb/18/ferris-wheel-big-attraction
