Kuwait Towers
P.O. Box 23310
Safat 13094 Kuwait
Sune Linström 1976
The distinctive group of three needles at the edge of the Arabian Gulf, in the heart of Kuwait City, were designed as national icons in the oil boom of the 1970s (though conceived in the 1960s). The building was completed in 1976 and opened to the public in 1979. They remain an icon today; the interiors were symbolically vandalized during the Iraqi occupation in 1990, and fully restored thereafter.
The distinctive balls resting part way up the giant concrete needles sit pleasingly asymmetrically: two on the tallest tower, one on the middle and none on the smallest.
The towers are somewhat functional, but have a symbolic role that goes beyond their function. The middle tower, rising to 147 meters above sea level, carries a spherical water tank, with a capacity of a million gallons. The tallest tower, rising to 187 meters, carries a large lower ball with restaurants and entertainment spaces to rent, and a smaller, higher ball with two levels of observation deck. The small tower, rising to 113 meters, carries a column of floodlights that light the other two towers at night.
The materials used for the Kuwait Towers emphasise the contrasts in the form. The concrete needle-shaped towers are white-painted most of the way up, and tipped with aluminum. The three balls, also constructed in reinforced concrete, are covered with 55,000 circular steel plates, painted in eight different colors.
Simon Glynn 2007
How to visit
The towers are clearly visible by the side of the Arabian Gulf Road in the Sharq district, at the notheastern tip of Kuwait City.
The site and viewing sphere (the highest) are open all day, from 8am to 11.30pm. Restaurant times vary, but there is something open all day. Restaurant reservations are required. For more information or for retstaurant reservations please call +965 244 4021, email info@kuwaittowers.com, or visit www.kuwaittowers.com (although the web site is not very informative).
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