England's new i360 observation tower seen as 'pier in the sky'

The world's tallest moving observation tower, the i360, opens to the public on Thursday, a futuristic landmark that has transformed the historic seafront in the English tourist resort of Brighton.

A 162-meter steel tower is ringed by a doughnut-shaped glass observation pod that gently glides up and down.

The design is meant to be a 21st Century take on the Victorian pleasure piers that characterize British seaside towns: this time, a vertical pier in the sky, according to project chiefs.