Statue of Unity enters World Architecture News Awards 2019
Standing tall at 182 m, the Statue of Unity, the towering structure dedicated to India’s first deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, has entered the prestigious World Architecture News Awards 2019 in the mixed-use category.
The World Architecture News Awards described how the statue had been built to withstand a speed of around 180 km/sec and has the ability to endure an earthquake of 6.8 on the Richter scale. Further, the website also mentioned that the statue has the potential to generate thousands of direct jobs for tribal people and in the tourism sector every year.
The project’s objective was to create a memorial to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to remind people of India’s freedom struggle and to inspire them to inculcate Sardar’s visionary ideologies of unity, patriotism, inclusive growth and good governance.
The statue rises out of a star-shaped, geometric base that covers Sadhu Hill. Its steel frames are cladded in about 6,500 bronze panels which are supported by vertical cores. Visitors can enter the viewing gallery at the 135m level – at the chest – and enjoy a breathtaking view of the dam and the surrounding environment. The gallery can accommodate up to 200 visitors.