B of the Bang

B of the Bang was a towering steel sculpture near Manchester’s City of Manchester Stadium, designed by Thomas Heatherwick to celebrate the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Standing 56 metres tall, it leaned at a sharp 30-degree angle and featured 180 radiating spikes that gave it the appearance of an exploding firework. The artwork took its name from a remark by sprinter Linford Christie, who spoke of starting races at ‘the B of the Bang’ rather than just the gunshot. Its weathering steel surface was meant to rust gently, forming a protective layer against corrosion. At the time of construction, a time capsule with children’s drawings and poems was sealed inside one of the spikes, intended to be opened centuries later. The sculpture became a landmark of east Manchester, rising higher than the Angel of the North and tilting more steeply than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Its sheer size and dramatic form made it a talking point even before problems arose. Soon after its 2005 unveiling, spikes began to detach, forcing temporary closures and costly repairs. Engineers added weights to dampen vibrations, but cracks in the welds persisted, leading to legal disputes over responsibility and repair costs. Visitors once saw the towering structure rising above Sportcity’s pathways, its steel spikes swaying in strong winds. The area around Alan Turing Way and Ashton New Road provided clear views of the leaning form against the skyline. Despite its eventual dismantling in 2009, the sculpture remains a remembered part of Manchester’s modern art landscape. Its legacy endures in local memory and in the debates it sparked about public art and engineering ambition.