Statue of Unity

The Statue of Unity, colloquially known as the Unity Angel, is a colossal copper statue located in Latium Park, Knowlestown, in South Ranomia. The statue is designed in the Hatar style of neoclassicism, and was conceived by Saessish sculptor J. M. Harvey. Finished in 1951 just before the opening of the Knowlestown World’s Fair, it was considered one of the largest monuments in the world at the time, and was widely celebrated for its attainment to engineering. Today, it remains an landmark of the city, visible throughout the north end and neighboring suburbs of the greater metro area. With its height of 303 feet from wing top to toe, it is the tallest statue in South Ranomia, and the XXth tallest statue in the world.

Origin
The idea of a grand monument for South Ranomia was first envisioned by then mayor of Knowlestown, Edd Niece, in 1938 when he envisioned a project called the Grand Knight Monument. In an interview with the Knowles Times, Niece described that the statue would depict a 100 foot knight in armor, point its sword forward with its arm extended in the direction that the city's river was flowing. Based off historic depictions of knights from Hatar, the towering sculpture would be made out of sheets of thick copper, finished off with a layer of tar paint to give it a black finish that would perfectly contrast the white buildings of the city. The planned statue would to be built in Vengeance borough to help the local economy, although public opposition to this soon formed quickly in the borough after the concept’s announcement. City investors weren’t convinced that the project was viable, with one developer claiming that the statue would be a, “destroyer, rather than a savior”. Furthermore, the Knowlestown Board of Chemistry posted a report 2 weeks after the announcement, claiming that the sun would cause the tar on the statue to heat up and emit a pungent smell in the area, which would put a risk to pedestrian health. The Chemistry report, along with lackluster investor support, caused many to dismiss the project as a waste of time. Despite this, the city council of Knowlestown was nevertheless intrigued at Niece’s proposal for an icon, and continued working with him on further concepts.

In 1947, Knowlestown given the greenlight by the XXX to be the host of the 1951 World’s Fair, which reinvigorated interest for progress at home. The chance to host an event at this scale was a once in a lifetime opportunity for many, and thus investors were looking for ways to thrive off of this event. Edd Niece, who resigned as mayor in 1942, was still a prominent entrepreneur in the industry, and thus was eager to hop on the bandwagon of the upcoming World’s Fair. Shortly after Knowlestown was awarded the prestigious position, Niece approached the city council with another proposal for an eye-catching statue, this time specifically for the fair. The city council, already known for trusting his time, agreed to the idea and soon announced plans for a monument to be built at the opening of the fair in 1951. While the public was still skeptical about the news, the general consensus was less pessimistic towards Niece, especially with the fair being such a predominant bargain. A week after the council’s announcement, Edd Niece would soon be contacted by a man named J. M. Harvey, a local sculptor who had recently immigrated to the country. Harvey reportedly stated that he was interested in drafting the design for Niece’s project, and invited Niece to come visit hit art exhibit in the North End of Knowlestown. Niece, still haunted by the memories of his 1938 embarrassment, agreed, and payed a visit to Harvey’s exhibit. During the visit, Harvey jokingly remarked, ”If the public thinks you’ll screw this up, I’ll be your guardian angel”. Niece laughed at the remark, and soon began to suggest the idea of making their sculpture an angel, to- “signify that Knowlestown was the city of angels, like heaven”. After some discussion, Harvey eventually agreed on the idea of an angelic statue.

Design, style, and symbolism
Ever since his early childhood, Edd Niece was fascinated with Kaurrissem. His father was the priest of his home town, and attending church was an importance greater than anything to him in his youth. Ever since then, Niece had developed a childlike wonder of religious imagery, with his favorite always being the angel. His religious dedication often leaked into his political career. For example, Niece was credited for the preservation of over 20 churches in Knowlestown over the course of his term as mayor, but was also accused of pushing religion into sectors of life that typically had no affiliation to church. He once debated putting bibles on the city’s public transit cars for passengers to read, which was rejected by the council. J. M. Harvey, on the other hand, was actually an atheist by the time he was a sculptor, and was always used to creating abstract imagery with his works. Despite their different backgrounds and beliefs, Niece was adamant that he could get the project done on schedule. During initial development, Harvey read several religious texts and novels to get an understanding of an angel’s symbolic meaning and purpose, as well as to get a sense of Niece’s approach from his point of view. There were many ideas thrown around during early development. Harvey initially wanted the angel to be depicted riding a horse and holding up a javelin. Niece despised the idea, seeing the horse and sword as nothing more than, “a crutch for what is more powerful than any weapon, the wielder”. Niece proposed the idea of having the angel suspended above the pedestal with the help of several thin rods, giving it the appearance of flying forwards. However, Harvey stated that such a structure would be both too complex and too structurally unstable for such a heavy statue. There was even a debate about what gender the angel itself should be. Niece was adamant that the angel should be a male, as he wanted the statue to portray masculinity, while Harvey wanted the angel to be a female to portray more elegance in the design. Niece remained firm on his stance, Harvey threatened to leave the project all together, but eventually the two would agree on the basic design of the statue. A female angel wearing a tunic and holding her arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture of embrace. As for design, Harvey chose to model the angel in a neoclassical design, which would conform to the rest of the town, which was built during said era.

Fundraising
While Edd Niece had the funds to pave the way for fundraising, he wasn’t alone in his desires. The statue had garnered a lot of support from the white communities and upper class of Knowlestown, who saw the project as a way to put the city on the world map with a recognizable image. Millionaires like Blaine Howards and Malcolm Fries openly expressed their support for the statue, and subsequently tunneled investment into the construction. Blaine Howards was especially fond of the statue, often visiting the site where it was planned to be built and speaking with Edd Niece in interviews leading up to its commissioning. He even pushed for the idea of including a luxury restaurant at the top of the statue, where guests could be served the finest roasts of Ranomia from a bird’s eye view. Niece rejected the idea out of concern that it would interrupt the ‘real meaning’ of the statue. Upon the announcement of the statue, various church organizations across Knowlestown also showed their support, allocating both donations and private funding, and claiming the monument to be a ‘holy trinity’.

Construction
Edd Niece would begin to lay out the plans for construction. The shell of the statue would be manufactured by Allots-Bierwick, who at the time were the largest copper smelting company in South Ranomia. They would use J. M. Harvey’s miniature model figure as a base for the design, and upscaled it to 300 feet in the blueprints. The interior layout and support beams would be designed by Lecktris Manufacturing Co., who specialized in housing development and power. The rest of development would be under the jurisdiction of Edd Niece, who would regularly supervise construction and ensure that everything was in working order. Ground was broke in 1948 when construction began, and almost immediately there were issues with the project. First off, the land that was chosen was formerly a native reservation in the city, one of the last in Knowlestown more specifically, and many Native peoples were outraged that Ranomia was violating their land and building onto it no less. Secondly, Allots-Bierwick had pulled out of the project at the last minute due to internal management problems relating to corruption, even though they claimed to have finished smelting all the copper castings for the statue. Edd Niece was furious that Bierwick had left the project, so much so that he went to the sight and pulled a handgun on Bierwick workers, demanding that they continue their work. After 4 hours of negotiations, Niece finally backed down and was briefly taken in by local police for disturbing the peace. While Niece was in custody, J. M. Harvey took over in his position and contacted Halido Kies (another construction company) to take over in building the shell of the statue. Halido agreed, and soon filed a lawsuit against Allots-Bierwick, claiming that they stole property (the copper castings) meant for the project and wasted millions of dollars and countless weeks. After a brief battle, Halido won the case and was given ownership of Bierwick’s copper castings, soon continuing construction. As for the native controversy, the shareholders had no official comment, but the South Ranomian government stated that they would deploy state police to the site if any natives tried to boycott construction. Although Halido was now in charge of the skin of the monument, they soon would face an issue as well, that being the wings of the statue were calculated to be too heavy for the rest of the body, and would cause a lot of strain to be added if they were to continue building. Harvey would solve this problem by proposing the idea of removing weight from the interior of the wings to reduce the strain, as well as cutting holes through the interior to allow wind to flow through without pushing against the material. Further concepts to reduce the strain were to add gas cells inside of the wings to counterbalance the drag, making the wings smaller, or just removing the wings all together. These concepts were rejected by both Harvey and Halido, who decided to just minimize weight and add small patterns of holes through the wings. After Niece was released from 2 months of custody, the statue continued to be built without any more serious hiccups, being finished around 1951, just a week before the World’s Fair.

1951 Knowlestown World's Fair
Upon its unveiling at the 1951 Worlds Fair, the Unity Angel was met with glowing applause from attendees. Being the centerpiece, it was unlike anything built prior to the event; it was a giant, elegant, and an eye catching monument for the city. It was also a praised for its unique neoclassical architecture, a feat high for the time. It was quickly one of the most popular attractions at the fair, garnering a following that attracted thousands nationwide during the fair’s operation. In just 3 days, the venue outsold its initial ticket estimates, and there was a brief crisis behind closed doors over the shortage of tickets to keep up with demand. It was so popular, in fact, that then state president, Eine French, flew out to the fair in order to give an address about the statue and its significance.

"There was no doubt in my mind the moment I touched down this city. I could see that winged angel for a-thousand yonder, from the window of the airport runway to the view from my car, I could see her smiling down on me. Now that I stand before this monument, filled with pride and joy at this great feat of engineering, I declare that this monument will be a historic landmark for all mankind. Not just as a South Ranomian victory, but a human victory. Not just built with white blood, but all of our blood. We, the people, made South Ranomia great, and today, we have made it beautiful."

On the last day of the fair, a fireworks display was scheduled to commemorate the statue, but was postponed to midnight due to mechanical issues. The night sky later that day was reportedly a sight to behold, with writer George Brown II claiming that god had blessed it in that very moment. Internationally, the statue's unveiling was reported as one of the newest wonders of the world. It was one of the stepping stones towards South Ranomia's public modernity in the 20th century, and helped put Knowlestown, and the country as a whole, on the map. Saessish officials dubbed it an achievement for their "sons across the sea", and many Saesland journalist flew out as quickly as possible to videotape the rest of the event. Meanwhile, Barenian officials were quick to detest the statue, with then president, L. J. Chambellan, commenting, “It’s a cheap knock off our own great Statue of Union.” Additionally, they pointed out the irony that the statue commemorated Liberty, whilst being built in a country where native Ozarans had no rights. Edd Niece appeared on several Hatar news broadcasts for interviews on the Unity Angel following the end of the fair, describing to the public in detail on the design process, what it symbolized, and how it shaped South Ranomia's image to the world. He also went on to credit himself for the design of the statue, which many at the time were skeptical about. The news infuriated J. M. Harvey, however, and he soon went on live television to debunk Niece's claim. Niece eventually apologized after a lawsuit was threatened, and returned the design credit to Harvey.