Southern California boasts the largest concentration of Iranians in the world outside Iran, and the county of Los Angeles houses the vast majority. The Fahrang Foundation—a non-religious, non-political, and not-for-profit foundation with a mission to celebrate and promote Iranian art and culture—plans to honor the Iranian community while thanking the City of Los Angeles with a gifted sculpture that will stand at the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd. and Century Park East.
The Freedom Sculpture, as it will be called, has been crowdfunded by over one million people and will serve as the gateway to Beverly Hills where the Iranian community makes up 20% of the population. It has been designed by the Sri Lankan-British designer and engineer Cecil Balmond whom has worked with everyone from Rem Koolhaas to Toyo Ito to Anish Kapoor. The design takes its inspiration from the Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient clay artifact dating back to 539 BCE that is considered the first declaration of human rights. The cylinder records the conquest of Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus the Great, whom upon taking control of the ancient city, restored local religious traditions. The United Nations building in New York City hosts a replica of the clay human rights charter.
The sculpture will be made of two stainless steel concentric cylinders, one silver and the other gold. Located at one of the busiest intersections in the city, it has been designed to give the illusion of movement from all directions with the knowledge that the majority of people will view the object from their car. As described by the studio, two stainless steel cylinders—one large and one small—will interact with each other in an exchange of strength and vulnerability. The sculpture will stand looking silver in the sun, but as it's approached, the inner golden cylinder will appear as the secret—a precious, yet fragile, freedom within. At night the gold color will be apparent, and the silver will surround, protecting the treasured “words.”
The sculpture will be unveiled on Independence Day to make parallel the cylinder's decree of religious freedom and the principals on which this country was founded. Funded by over 1,000,000 people who have combined to contribute a total of $2.2 million, the Freedom Sculpture will be the largest publicly crowdsourced monument to ever be gifted to the U.S.
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