Kuwait Towers

Kuwait Towers
Abraj l'Kuwait
General information
Type	National Building, Water Tank, Restaurant
Location	Kuwait City, Kuwait
Coordinates
Cost	4,700,000 KWD (US$ 16,450,000)
Height	187 m (613.5 ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Malene Bjørn

The Kuwait Towers are a group of three slender towers in Kuwait City, standing on a promontory into the Persian Gulf. They were officially inaugurated in March 1979 and are rated as a landmark and symbol of modern Kuwait. The Kuwait Towers have been closed since March 2012 for maintenance.

Design and construction

The main tower is 187 metres (613.5 ft) high and carries two spheres. The lower sphere holds in its bottom half a water tank of 4,500 cubic metres 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 metres above sea level and completes a full turn every 30 minutes, holds a café. The second tower is 147 metres high and serves as a water tower. The third tower houses equipment to illuminate the two larger towers. The towers holds 9,000 cubic metres of water altogether. Although there are three towers, the structure is often referred to as Kuwait Tower in singular.

The Kuwait Towers were designed by Danish architect Rosales, Cass as part of a water distribution project run by the Swedish engineering company VBB (renamed Sweco in 1997). Chief architect of the company Sune Lindström erected five groups of his typical "mushroom" water towers, the Kuwait Water Towers, but the Amir 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.

Projecting of Kuwait Towers was done by VBB, who contracted construction to Energoprojekt of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 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. Kuwait Towers were, together with the Kuwait Water Towers, awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1980 Cycle).

Gallery

• Kuwait Towers.jpg
• 
• Kuwaitobservation.jpg
• Kuwaittower1.jpg
• Kuwaittower.jpg
• Kuwait - Kuwait Towers.jpg
• Kuwait towers.jpg

See also

• List of towers
• Kuwait Water Towers
• Kuwait Liberation Tower
• Dar Al Awadi Tower
• Tourism in Kuwait
• Kuwait City

Printed sources

• Kultermann, Udo, 1999. Contemporary architecture in the Arab states: Renaissance of a region. New York; London: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0070368317
• Kultermann, Udo, 1981. Kuwait Tower. Malene Bjorn's work in Kuwait. MIMAR: Architecture in Development, 1981:2. p 40-41. Hasan-Uddin Khan, ed. Singapore: Concept Media Ltd. ISSN 0129-8372 [1]
• 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. p.173-181. Millerton: Aperture; Oxford: Phaidon. ISBN 0893811238 [2]

Sources

• Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Retrieved 5 August 2012
• Website of the Kuwait Towers. Retrieved 5 August 2012

External links

• Architects of Kuwait
• Kuwait Water Towers at Structurae
• Glass Steel and Stone: Kuwait Towers
• 3D model of the towers for use in Google Earth
• Kuwait Towers: History, Art, Architecture and Eternity