Archinect - News

The Line names Gensler, DMAA, and Mott MacDonald to its project team

2024-11-12T18:57:00-05:00

NEOM has announced three new architectural partners who will participate in its ongoing planning and design development process for The Line megacity component. The press release names Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA), Gensler, and Mott MacDonald as additions.

DMAA (the Phase One master planners) and Mott MacDonald will each be responsible for engineering and infrastructure project management, with the city asset design architect Gensler being tapped to lead "city design coordination and city planning, providing leadership and governance across the project on crucial areas, including planning policies and frameworks, land use and design compliance."

The announcement mentions the start of planning for individually-designed neighborhoods in Phase One, which will be created by a different "suite of architects" beginning in early 2025. A British ITV documentary film crew recently reported on the growth of human rights concerns at The Line site after construction began.

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Morphosis drops out of The Line

2024-07-02T19:13:00-04:00

Saudi Arabia's gargantuan The Line megaproject appears to be experiencing changes in its design team composition. According to the Architect's Journal, Morphosis Architects has reportedly left the signature development of the larger $500 billion NEOM initiative.

The Thom Mayne-led studio was believed to be behind the initial master plan of the notoriously secretive scheme that was first revealed in 2022 as a 105-mile-long linear city aspiring to eventually house 9 million people between its 500-meter-tall walls. While NEOM continued to release updates on The Line and other satellite developments' construction progress in the Saudi desert, reporting from Bloomberg earlier this year pointed to a scaled-back schedule and emphasis on finishing an initial 1.5-mile segment for 300,000 residents by the end of the decade.

Related on Archinect: NEOM's The Line is getting a lot shorter (for now)

Critics of the project have also been vocal about human rights abuses connected with its developm...

Delugan Meissl completes Taiyuan Botanical Garden featuring timber-based domed greenhouses

2021-06-02T19:16:00-04:00

Vienna-based firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA) has completed the Taiyuan Botanical Garden, a project that introduces a vibrant artificial landscape, defined by three timber-based, domed greenhouses.

Located in Taiyuan, China, the botanical garden occupies the site of a former coal mine, which the client wanted to transform into a landscaped park and museum. The architectural concept is based on the pre-existing landscape and altogether balances the natural landscape, architecture, technological, and ecological solutions. The artificial landscape features hills, lakes, waterfalls, paths, and buildings.

The greenhouses are the project’s centerpiece, fostering suitable climates for plants from different regions. In addition, the botanical garden encompasses an entrance building, which contains a nature museum and administration facility, a restaurant tea house, a bonsai museum, and a research center.

The greenhouses are situated near the entrance of the site and are con...