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Cardboard tower sculpture toppled after wind hits

Cheryl DennisWest of England
News imagePeter Barrington A collapsed cardboard structure on its side in a park laying on top of grass and a path. To the right, a standing piece of the artwork still stands. There is a crane behind and to the left you can see the Bristol Channel in the background along with a small section of Birnbeck Pier. In the park there are iron framed wooden benches which are faded green in colour. Peter Barrington
Safety concerns led to the sculpture being toppled early

A giant cardboard model tower has fallen victim to strong sea winds.

The six-storey-high art installation, inspired by Weston-Super-Mare's crumbling Birnbeck Pier, was put up in the Prince Consort Gardens on Saturday by local people under the instruction of artist Olivier Grossetête.

The tower began to lean at about 07:00 BST on Sunday and had completely fallen down by 11:00, project leaders said.

Bosses ensured the site was safe so people could watch it happen. When the 20m (66ft) structure finally fell, about 300 members of the community in the park helped with some "monumental jumping and squashing" to prepare it for transportation and its recycling, they added.

News imagePaul Bakemore/Super Culture Hundreds of volunteers raise their arms in celebration with a giant cardboard structure in two parts behind them. The Bristol Channel is in the background on a sunny day with Birnbeck pier just in shot as well as some trees and shrubs, along with seaside properties to the right of the picture. Paul Bakemore/Super Culture
Volunteers helped build the structure in the Prince Consort Gardens in Weston-super-Mare
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Super Culture head of production Paula Birtwistle said: "The past week has presented an epic and truly out-of-the-box way to engage with Weston's unique heritage.

"Around 1,000 people of all ages and from all walks of life have come together with artist Olivier Grossetête to learn about Birnbeck Pier and build this fantastic construction."

The team behind the idea said it was an "empowering way to discover that you can make something amazing with just people power and cardboard".

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