David Winpenny

Pyramids are not just an Ancient Egyptian thing – they were a common sight around the world in early history, and versions of them have graced the landscapes of Britain and Ireland, as well as of many European countries and North America, since the 17th century. 

In my book ‘Up to a Point – in search of pyramids in Britain and Ireland’ there are pyramids of all sorts – monuments, mausoleums, garden ornaments, warning beacons and office block to name just a few.  But none of them had the same power of bringing people together for the common good that the pyramid project that Steve and his family have proposed.  It’s a great vision, and deserves success. 

Please support them to make their pyramid vision a reality!

Peter N. Jones, Ph.D

Indigenous Peoples Issues & Resources
http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com

Many of the indigenous people of the world, their language, culture, and way of life face a questionable future. The relatively rapid decline in language diversity parallels the decline in cultural diversity. These changes are due in part to the product of both historical relationships - imperialism, colonialism, global economic development, and militarism - as well as cultural beliefs that rationalize or justify actions that have served certain cultures at the cost of others.

It is for these reasons that our organization and I strongly support the Leeds Pyramid project. It is now more critical then ever to attempt to document the amazing cultural diversity that is rapidly disappearing all over the globe. The idea of creating a world time capsule to share with future generations the diversity, beauty, and knowledge embodied within indigenous cultures is an extremely important and worthy endeavor. We are honored to be part of this project, not only for what it is attempting to achieve, but also for what it means to future generations around the world.

Leigh Mulvaney-Johnson

BEng (hons) in Mechanical Engineering
MSc Manufacturing systems Engineering and Management
PhD in Polymer Science and Technology

The Leeds Pyramid time capsule project is an excellent opportunity to capture a snapshot of the world today. The IRC (Interdisciplinary Research Centre) in polymer science and technology at the University of Bradford is helping to guide the box design and associated material selection. Plastics were not around 1000 years ago, which means there is no definite historical data to determine if the material and product will last. This project provides an opportunity to create that product life cycle data by documenting the box design, material selection and manufacturing route for future generations; this is like a big experiment for our descendants.  A number of plastic materials have been considered for the job and one of the most advanced engineering polymers, PEEK (Victrex.com), appears to be the most stable under a range of environmental conditions. This material is used for many demanding applications from deep sea to inside the human body (Invibio.com). It wouldn't normally be considered for making a box to contain just a few items, but where the items are of significant importance for generations to come and it needs to last for more than just a few years then a material selection to give the best chance of success is of great importance.

David Stone MBE

Double Paralympian Gold Medallist

The project led by the Ward family to build this Pyramid is a wonderful opportunity for countries from all around the world to capture something meaningful and unique to their country, in our modern times. The idea to offer three boxes to each country and asking 1 box to be filled by the leader, 1 by a school and 1 by a selected individual in that school encourages a diverse range of what will be in each box, as I’m sure what will be seen as important to a country’s leader will be very different to the children from a school in that country! The Pyramid would be an amazing tourist attraction, celebrating modern engineering and the diverse world that we live in today, giving generations to come a glimpse of our lives! I feel honoured to be a part of such an exciting project and very much support it.

Iain Denby

Architectural Illustrator
Iain Denby Limited
www.idenby.co.uk

We all have fantastic ideas from time to time, but many of us do nothing about them. Steve and his family's idea for a giant time capsule to be built in the shape of a pyramid, creating a snap shot of our world, is one of those fantastic ideas. Steve's passion and enthusiasm to drive this idea into a reality is both admirable and infectious. This simple but big idea is gathering momentum fast and has already captured the interest of many countries.

As an architectural illustrator of more than 20 years, I have illustrated many major developments in and around Leeds for some of the country's top architects and developers. It's been refreshing to work on an idea from a local family for a change, and I hope my illustration captures the essence of the scheme and engages people's imagination. This is a simple, exciting and worthy idea, and I'm proud to be part of it.

View illustration