B of the Bang: A Public Art Project in Manchester

Thomas Heatherwick’s brilliant artistic imagination conjured up B of the Bang, a public art project in Manchester, leaning more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and depicting sparks flying from a core. But more down-to-earth structural and safety issues concerning the artwork have forced the Manchester City Council to decide to dismantle the structure and store it in order to assemble and install it again at an alternate site (possibly the Sport city location), if a feasible option for installation exists.

B of the Bang is a sculpture commissioned by the City of Manchester to celebrate the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in the city. The design for the sculpture submitted by Thomas Heatherwick was approved and construction due to complete in 2003. However, the engineering challenges associated with the design delayed the official unveiling until 12 January 2005. Built by Thomas Heatherwick Studio, Westbury Structures, Flint and Neill and Packman Lucas, it also exceeded the budget. Ultimately costing £1.42m, the tall and massive sculpture was named after a quotation of Linford Christie, British sprinter, who said that he started running in a race not at the ‘bang’ of the pistol but at the ‘b’ of the ‘bang’.

Built of Weathering Steel, the sculpture originally consisted of 180 tapered slender pikes branching out from the core and is 20 stories high, inclined at a 30-degree angle. Standing 184 feet (56m) tall, it is taller than the Angel of The North in Gateshead. However, one of its spikes fell off six days before B of the Bang’s unveiling in January 2005. Further structural issues and safety doubts resulted in 9 of its spikes removed for testing for signs of wear.

Dismantling has begun in April 2009, following an out-of-court settlement in which Thomas Heatherwick Studio Ltd paid the Manchester City Council £1.7m in damages. The distinctive public art sculpture will eventually disappear from the Manchester skyline until plans are laid to install it again.

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