How can this possibly be real?
The MSG Sphere in Las Vegas has taken over the internet.
It’s the world's biggest sphere and with more than a million individual LED panels,
it contains the world’s largest screen too.
It looks like something that crash landed out of the future.
But we can assure you it is very, very real… and not only that, there may be another one
joining it shortly too.
Not content with just one giant sphere, Madison Square Garden wants to build a second one…
in London.
Only, London isn’t Vegas.
The mega orb is proposed to be built close to residential areas and be lit up from 6am
to 11pm every single day.
Not surprisingly the project has proved controversial with numerous protest groups lobbying against
its construction, but it looks like it could be going ahead.
Is London about to be Vegas-ified?*
The MSG Sphere began life as a sketch on a napkin: a stick figure inside a giant circle.
The man who drew it, U.S. business mogul James Dolan, wanted to reinvent live entertainment
forever.
Fast-forward to today and he may have just done that.
The sphere has opened to rapturous applause.
Even U2 was distracted by the sheer presence of the visuals on display when they gave the
inaugural performance for the venue.
And why wouldn’t they be?
The 1.2M individual LED panels that comprise the massive wraparound screen give the illusion
of virtual reality without the googles.
Because of the curved screen the images appear as if they’re 3D.
The venue can hold 18,600 people.
It has the largest array of loudspeakers in the world at a total of 1,586.
This offsets the problem of acoustics in a spherical structure.
The whole thing was built at the cost of a staggering $2.3BN, and it’s not hard to
see why.
In many respects it's an engineering marvel.
The building’s superstructure is made of four concrete cores tied together with 9,700
tonnes of steel to create a series of tensioned ring beams to hold the weight of the 11,000
tonne roof.
With such a big distance to span the team had to ship the world's fourth-largest crawler
crane over from Belgium to position some of the largest and heaviest components.
The crane was a construction project in itself - taking 18 days to assemble on site.
To build the roof, an 86-metre shoring tower was first assembled in the middle of the arena.
Then a 154-tonne compression ring was placed on top, where 32 steel trusses all connected.
Due to their immense size and weight the compression ring and trusses were each assembled on the
ground over several weeks, before being craned-into place.
The temporary shoring tower was then removed and the equal forces of the roof structure
began to counter each other - creating a column free, uninterrupted space within the sphere.
Now there are plans to build a second sphere in London.
A smaller “sister” sphere that will nonetheless still be absolutely massive and
will likely be built in
a very similar way.
It will have a diameter of 120 metres, the same as the London Eye, and be 96 metres tall,
the same height as Big Ben.
With a capacity of 21,500 people and a $975M price tag, it comes in just a bit cheaper
than its Vegas counterpart.
There are a few other key differences as well.
One of the issues with the Vegas sphere has been how much people want to stop and look
at it… but there’s nowhere to really do that.
The giant structure is penned in by a golf course on one side and a parking lot on the
other.
The only place for the public to view the spectacular exterior visuals is from the monorail
that passes by or from inside one of the nearby buildings.
The London sphere will have several dedicated public spaces as well as four public access
points.
It’s going to be built here in East London.
We’ve mocked up a rough model of what it would look like on its proposed site to give
you an idea.
This is where the controversy kicks in.
It’s not being built in a particularly touristy location.
It’s being built in Stratford.
You may know it from a little event they hosted back in 2012.
But the Olympics are long over and Stratford is now a mostly residential area with some
other entertainment venues – including the purpose built ABBA Arena.
The Sphere is planned for this 1.9ha triangular site nestled between railway lines and the
Westfield shopping centre.
But it’s also just 76 metres away from people’s homes.
More than 2,000 residents have officially objected to the construction of the sphere.
In a borough with 36% of residents living in poverty, some think the investment in the
Sphere could better be used on affordable housing.
A local MP has questioned how the already busy train station would cope with the estimated
60,000 additional people that would come daily to visit the sphere.
Most of all, however, opponents point to the light pollution the sphere will create.
In Vegas, the theatrics of the sphere have not been good for traffic.
While the sphere looks fantastic now as a giant eyeball, emoji or pumpkin, this isn’t
what the exterior will be ultimately used for.
It’ll reportedly be used to show ads, charging clients up to $650,000 a week.
This makes it the most expensive billboard in the world.
It's pretty reasonable to guess that's how the London sphere will be used too.
Illuminated in animated adverts from 6am to 11pm every single day.
Developers of the Sphere offered to give residents closest to the structure black-out window
blinds as a compromise.
Somehow this didn’t appease them.
Despite this objection from locals, planning permission was granted last year.
However, the proposals are yet to be approved by the mayor of London.
The project now remains in a bit of a limbo.
Despite this objection from locals, planning permission was granted last year.
However, proposals have been held up by the mayor of London who is set to decide in November
2023.
If he approves it, it will then be sent to the Government for a final round of rubber
stamping.
If it isn’t approved by the mayor, then MSG Sphere may appeal the decision.
Either way, there’s still a long road ahead.
Those who support it, however, say it could be an incredible opportunity for the area.
And could transform this underdeveloped site into a thriving destination in itself.
MSG London says the venue will generate 3,200 jobs every year once it is open and bring
in roughly 60,000 people daily, 300 days a year to Stratford, boosting London’s economy
by $3BN annually.
It’s very possible the London Sphere will still go ahead, with some caveats.
They say they’re working on coming up with solutions to the complaints voiced by locals.
What ends up being built might be a smaller sphere, or one whose lights have to be dimmed
earlier in the evening.
Either way it’s clear from the reaction to the Vegas Sphere that this concept could
be something revolutionary.
If London doesn’t take up the opportunity other cities around the world are keen for
their own spheres.
Dubai even has a copycat one in development, called the Moon.
Once the costs and logistics are worked out, the sphere is a design that can be pretty
easily recreated in many environments.
That little stick figure inside a giant circle may actually just end up changing live entertainment
forever.