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Kuwait Towers

Field	Value
name	Kuwait Towers
native_name	Abraj l'Kuwait
image	Kuwait Towers RB.jpg
building_type	National building, water tank, restaurant
cost	4,700,000 KWD (US$ 16,450,000)
location	Kuwait City, Kuwait
coordinates
start_date	1971
completion_date	1976
inauguration_date	1 March 1979
height	187 m
main_contractor	Union Inženjering
architect	Sune Lindström, Malene Bjørn
pushpin_map	Kuwait
pushpin_mapsize	300

The Kuwait Towers are a group of three thin towers in Kuwait City, standing on a promontory into the Arabian Gulf. They were the sixth, and last, group in the larger Kuwait Water Towers system of 34 towers (33 store water; one stores equipment), and were built in a style considerably different from the other five groups. The Kuwait Towers were officially inaugurated in March 1979 and are regarded as a landmark and symbol of modern Kuwait. The towers were closed for maintenance from March 2012 to 8 March 2016, with a massive fireworks festival commemorating the re-opening. Kuwait Towers facility is operated and managed by the state-owned Touristic Enterprises Company. The Main Tower served as the venue for TEDxKuwaitCity event in 2018 and 2019.

Design and construction

The main tower is 187 m high and carries two spheres. The lower sphere holds in its bottom half a water tank of 4500 m3 and in its upper half there is a restaurant that accommodates 90 people, a café, a lounge and a reception hall. The upper sphere, which rises to 123 m above sea level and completes a full turn every 30 minutes, holds a café. The second tower is 147 m high and serves as a water tower. The third tower does not store water, housing equipment to illuminate the two larger towers. The two water towers hold 9000 m3 of water altogether.

The Kuwait Towers were designed by Danish architect Malene Bjørn as part of a water distribution project run by the Swedish engineering company VBB (renamed Sweco in 1997). Chief architect of the company and husband of Malene Bjørn, Sune Lindström, erected five groups of his typical "mushroom" water towers, the Kuwait Water Towers, but the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed, wanted a more attractive design for the sixth site. Out of ten different designs, three were presented to the Amir, who chose the design built.

VBB contracted construction of the three Kuwait Towers to Union Inženjering construction company of Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now part of Serbia). The towers were built of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete. Building took place from 1971 to 1976 and the main tower was opened to the public on 1 March 1979.

Approximately 41,000 enameled steel discs cover the three spheres in eight shades of blue, green and gray, recalling the tiled domes of historic mosques. The discs are arranged in spiral patterns around the spheres. According to the architect, the Kuwait Tower group refers to ideals of humanity and technology, symbolised by the globe and the rocket. The towers were damaged heavily by the Iraqis during their occupation of Kuwait from 1990 to 1991. In 1991, after the liberation of Kuwait City during the First Gulf War, Vic Clarke of Nottingham UK abseiled the Kuwait Water Towers during structural surveys.

Recognition

In 1980, the Kuwait Water Towers system, including the Kuwait Towers, was an inaugural recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Gallery

File:Kuwaitobservation.jpg File:Kuwait towers.jpg File:Remote view of night in Kuwait City.jpg File:Kuwaittowers.jpg File:Kuwait Towers (4863654).jpg File:Kuwaittower1.jpg File:Aqua Park near Kuwait Towers.jpg File:Kuwaittower.jpg

Notes

Printed sources

Kultermann, Udo, 1999. *Contemporary architecture in the Arab states: Renaissance of a region. *New York; London: McGraw-Hill.
Kultermann, Udo, 1981. Kuwait Tower. Malene Bjorn's work in Kuwait. MIMAR: Architecture in Development, 1981:2. pp. 40–41. Hasan-Uddin Khan, ed. Singapore: Concept Media Ltd. ISSN 0129-8372 https://web.archive.org/web/20120927153411/http://archnet.org/library/documents/one-document.jsp?document_id=4420
Water Towers, 1983. In: Renata Holod, editor; Darl Rasdorfer, associate editor. 1983. Architecture and Community: building in the Islamic world today: the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. pp. 173–181. Millerton: Aperture; Oxford: Phaidon. https://web.archive.org/web/20120927153614/http://archnet.org/library/documents/one-document.jsp?document_id=6150

Sources

References

"Abraj Al-Kuwait". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
link. (2017-10-09 ''KUNA''. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2014.)
''Water Towers'' p. 181
Meshaal Al-Enezi. (2016-02-22). "Kuwait Towers to open March 8". [[Kuwait Times]].
"TEDxKuwaitCity {{!}} TED".
"TEDxKuwaitCity {{!}} TED".
Water Tower Project Brief (pdf) sid. 3-6. In:Aga Khan Award
Website of Kuwait Towers
Arkitektmuseets tidning
Kultermann 1981
''Water Towers''
"Kuwait towers website".
Aga Khan Award p. 16
Kultermann 1981 p. 41

Info: Wikipedia Source

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