Kuwait’s National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) has won a Getty Foundation grant to study the sustainable protection of art designing and implementing metal plates that cover the spherical structures of the Kuwait Towers, designed by the Danish architect Malene Bjorn in 1968.
NCCAL said that this grant comes through the “Keeping It Modern” program, which protects the urban heritage of the twentieth century, especially buildings of exceptional global value, to witness an opportunity for scientific progress.
The Secretary-General of the Council, Kamel Al-Abduljalil said that this grant is considered an opportunity for scientific cooperation and knowledge exchange to preserve the heritage of modernity He pointed out that 90 applications were submitted for this grant and 13 buildings were selected, one of which was Kuwait Towers.
Since 2014, Keeping It Modern has supported 77 grant projects of outstanding architectural significance that contribute to advancing conservation practice. Current, active grants focus on the creation of conservation management plans that guide long-term maintenance and conservation policies, the thorough investigation of building conditions, and the testing and analysis of modern materials. The program teams participating in these projects are also spreading awareness of the need for research-based planning for modern buildings, and are themselves forming new international networks, aided by annual workshops in London made possible by Getty grants to the Twentieth Century Society.
Kuwait Towers won the Aga Khan Award in Islamic Architecture in 1980 as it represents distinctive design and symbol of Kuwait modernity.
