Heatherwick takes a moment to pause on his walk to the top to explain it’s a dream come true. “A weird, extraordinary dream,” he says. It was part of the “inaugural walk”, where the first guests walking alongside the designer were given Olympic-sized medals to commemorate the historic opening last Thursday.

“It’s not an inanimate object,” explains the designer. “It’s thrilling that it isn’t finished until its able to be lifting up 1,700 people every day. Like Italian promenades, people can look up and down at each other to share this extraordinary experience.”

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Heatherwick looks unruffled upon hearing the words “public art”.

“I’m not an artist,” he declares. “My interest in how you make the world around you better, more meaningful ways in how to bring us together. We saw this project not as an artwork, but as an extension of three-dimensional piece of public space.”

But is he an artist? Perusing his portfolio, there is the case he could be an artist who uses public space and architecture for spectacle. Whether it’s his Olympic cauldron, the electrifying UK Pavilion at the Shanghai expo or the ribbon-like temple in Kagoshima, Japan, many of his designs look like sculpture more than habitable buildings.

But aesthetics seems to fall secondary for Heatherwick, who truly wants to bring people together in a public space, both horizontally and vertically. “You’ve still got the space around but you’re getting miles of space, as well,” he says pointing upward to the top of Vessel, while standing on its third floor.

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