Don your pads, grab your bat, and prepare your wicket … it is season for cricket, and it appears the sport is occupying the collective minds of entire nations at present.
In England and Australia, all eyes are on the current Ashes series, while in Sri Lanka, the country’s Board of Investment is reminiscing about cricketing glory experienced back in 1996. As the 20th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s victory in the World Cup approaches, the island nation is preparing an ambitious architectural tribute to its sporting heroes.
Designed by ARC Studio West, the 1996 Iconic Tower forms an extraordinarily literal homage to Sri Lanka’s famous victory, bringing back the theatrics of postmodernism on a gargantuan scale. Four crystalline cricket bats — each several hundred meters high — will be crowned with a geodesic dome that evokes a cricket ball, housing a multi-tiered observation deck and restaurant.
Significantly, the development will be co-funded by an Indian investor, Shreepati Edifice (Pvt) Ltd. — the Sri Lankans beat India in the 1996 semifinals in acrimonious circumstances. The 1,910-foot-high (363 meters) tower will be a mixed-use development incorporating 376 apartments, 92 penthouses, and a plethora of modern amenities including a pool, gym, spa, and external sky decks.
Upon completion in around four years’ time, the building will stand as Sri Lanka’s tallest by far, eclipsing the still-under-construction Grand Hyatt Columbo, which has topped out at 755 feet (230 meters). Whatever high-rise structures are built on the island in the future, their architects will be hard-pressed to match the formal flamboyance of this sporting edifice …