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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Documentary exposes harsh labor conditions and deaths at NEOM’s The Line

2024-10-30T11:13:00-04:00

Documentary filmmakers have discovered abusive working conditions for laborers of NEOM’s The Line megacity development in Saudi Arabia. Per new reporting on the website Middle East Eye: "Labourers are forced to work grueling hours far beyond legal limits to construct the flagship project of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Neom megacity, according to a new ITV documentary."

That film, Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia, is set to air this Sunday for UK audiences. Labor conditions in the Gulf region are considered to have faltered at improving despite several recent regulatory changes in the view of many Western human rights watch groups.

(Another shock claim that 21,000 workers from three countries — India, Bangladesh, and Nepal — have died since the Saudi Vision 2030 plan was enacted in 2016 is reported in the documentary.)

Claim: NEOM will consume one-fifth of the world's steel to complete construction

2024-10-18T18:37:00-04:00

A surprising new claim about the amount of steel being used to construct NEOM’s new The Line megacity and other satellite developments is being advanced by several regional outlets, which claim the amount equals one-fifth (20%) of the world's current steel production.

The claim was first published by the website Arabian Gulf Business Insight on Monday after NEOM's chief investment officer told the outlet about its forthcoming status as "the world’s largest customer for construction materials" for possibly dozens of years.

It comes after the announcement of new concrete production facilities across the country that augment construction of the more than $500 billion plan. The Line's initial phase of construction has been reduced to span just 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) by the end of the decade.

NEOM's The Line is getting its own $186M concrete factory

2024-10-14T10:00:00-04:00

Multiple outlets in the Gulf region report on a new $186 million series of ready-mix concrete plants that will augment construction efforts for NEOM and The Line. According to Gulf News, the facility is capable of producing more than 700,000 cubic feet per day.

The $500 billion linear city effort had taken a hit recently after officials admitted their intentions to drastically limit its first phase to just 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles). The Line's superstructure and sub-grade support system will receive most of the output from the plants. A separate source reported that work on its foundation pilings has already begun, with "nearly 1,000 out of over 30,000 piles placed so far."

Saudi Arabia floats 2034 World Cup stadium 1,000+ feet up on The Line

2024-08-02T12:40:00-04:00

Saudi Arabia’s turn as host of the 2034 World Cup would include NEOM as one of its 15 host cities, according to an official bid submitted to FIFA.

Renderings describing a new 46,000-seat stadium elevated 350 meters (1,150 feet) above the ground and embedded within the superstructure of the planned The Line megacity were made public this week along with 11 other newly built constructions as part of the country’s bid marketing booklet. The 125-page document includes other details of a massive infrastructure plan and 73-strong network of proposed sports training facilities.

Image: NEOM

An architect for The Line stadium has not been named. A section drawing from the bid book (page 108) indicates that it will take up the superstructure's top levels high up in the air and be surrounded by different 'compounds' that round out the building program. Fans seated in its interior bowl will be bifurcated by hexagonal partitions while a mirrored ceiling beset with LED displays that extends from th...

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...

Saudi officials ordered lethal force to make room for NEOM, former security forces commander claims

2024-06-10T18:31:00-04:00

Saudi authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city being built by dozens of Western companies, an ex-intelligence officer has told the BBC. He said the April 2020 order stated the Huwaitat was made up of "many rebels" and "whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home".

The village of al-Khuraybah, home to members of the displaced Huwaitat tribe, was the target of Saudi security forces during the deadly raid that left one member dead. The report states, however, “The BBC was not able to independently verify Col. Alenezi's comments about lethal force.” The Line, which has now shrunk to 2.4 kilometers (about 1.5 miles), is expected to house its first 300,000 residents by the end of the decade.

Three other members of the tribe are still facing pending executions over their resistance, according to the UN. The state executed more than 170 people last year despite leader Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud's promises to enact more liberal reforms.

NEOM's The Line is getting a lot shorter (for now)

2024-04-10T11:43:00-04:00

Bloomberg is reporting on a tip they received recently about NEOM’s The Line centerpiece as it advances on the first phase of construction in Saudi Arabia’s northwest highlands.

Last week, the outlet published details citing an anonymous source who said The Line segment is now expected to extend to only 2.4 kilometers and house 300,000 residents by the end of the decade. The figures cited are a drastic reduction from the 1.5 million-person, 170-kilometer goals that have been included in promotional materials since the launch of the project. The unnamed source spoke out of anonymity citing fears for “discussing non-public information.”

The report also claims unnamed contractors have been dismissed as a result of the missed objectives. Other satellite developments are however progressing on target. NEOM’s budget for 2024 has still yet to be approved after the Saudi Public Investment Fund saw its largest drop since 2020.

Related on Archinect: NEOM goes to Venice to promote its 'zero grav...

NEOM updates progress on The Line and other satellite developments

2024-02-28T18:32:00-05:00

Progress on the Oxagon, Sindalah, and the 110-mile-long The Line centerpiece developments in Saudi Arabia’s NEOM megaproject has been documented in a new update released this week.

Aerial photos combined with drone footage displaying their construction progress surfaced on NEOM social media accounts with a note about its tangibility to naysayers skeptical of the $500 billion vision of the country's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Video: NEOM/YouTube

It follows previous video updates from January and October of 2023. Since then, several additional developments (including Leyja, Epicon, Aquellum, and Siranna) have been announced.

Image: NEOM/YouTube

The first construction phases will reportedly be completed by 2030, with the British firm Atkins retained to oversee delivery of The Line, which is by far its largest and most technically challenging portion.

Image: NEOM/YouTube

Around 60,000 workers are reported to be on each construction site combined. The Saudi state has spent $5.6 ...

‘A spectacle of reform’: Rowan Moore throws cold water on NEOM's motivation and sustainable claims

2023-12-05T11:49:00-05:00

Conceivably, as one architect speculates, The Line will be “a Noah’s Ark for the happy few”, a privileged AI-controlled citadel set in an inhospitable desert. Otherwise it will be clickbait visible from space, two vast and pointless lines of glass whose colossal construction cost would defeat the Vision 2030 plan to reduce dependency on oil revenues. What’s more likely is that it will never be completed.

The Observer architecture critic blasts The Line as nonsensical, poorly conceived, a youthful self-promotional tool of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and ultimately mocking the leader’s claims that it is “designed to protect and enhance nature” before predicting much of it will never be completed.

NEOM has recently unveiled a trio of resort concepts for the Gulf of Aqaba, bringing the total number of planned developments to seven. As Moore points out, many of the projects’ realization dates remain unpublicized — hazy as though a desert mirage.

NEOM previews satellite developments at Riyadh real estate conference

2023-09-19T14:10:00-04:00

More details have emerged regarding Saudi Arabia’s plans for the TROJENA and OXAGON segments of their $500 billion NEOM megaproject after the country participated in a regional real estate trade conference in Riyadh last week.

As part of the inaugural Cityscape Global meeting, promoters of NEOM were on hand to present their accelerated plans for each development, which are alternatively a ski resort/wildlife reserve and a manmade industrial island with residential tracts that can accommodate up to 90,000 residents. Details about Sindalah, a massive yacht club and terraced beach resort island, were presented as well.

Image courtesy NEOM via Facebook

The event was meant to lure potential investors and property buyers through a high-tech sales pitch with immersive exhibitions and panel discussions featuring members of NEOM’s leadership team. Models of each site were included along with VR headset tours, architectural drawings, and other media relating to the development, which is being...

NEOM draws a Line in the sand: Adjaye now off the project

2023-08-15T18:29:00-04:00

David Adjaye’s public reckoning over sexual misconduct allegations launched by three former employees has now reportedly cost him his seat on one of recent history’s most-publicized architecture projects, as the Architects’ Journal is revealing that Adjaye Associates is no longer involved in NEOM’s controversial The Line megacity development in Saudi Arabia.

The news broke Tuesday in the wake of several other public institutions’ decisions regarding his status on projects worldwide. The AJ reported officials as saying his inclusion was only for a preliminary "pre-concept" design consultation and that the project's "third and final" design phase would be announced in September sans his participation.

Earlier today, we reported on Adjaye’s dismissal from the International Slavery Museum renovation project in Liverpool. With the move, his firm has now officially been taken off of Vermont’s Shelburne Museum extension, the planned waterfront redevelopment in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Sh...

New NEOM documentary features Thom Mayne, Peter Cook, Reinier de Graaf, and other architects speaking highly of The Line megacity project

2023-07-28T13:06:00-04:00

A new look behind the process and select architects involved in Saudi Arabia’s controversial The Line megacity for NEOM has been released, answering some questions as to its ideation while leaving many remaining in regard to the project's structural engineering, technical specifics, and design feasibility overall.

Among the torrent of quickly-spliced and placable bromides, the 45-minute "documentary" features Peter Cook stating, "if it's to be a success... parts of it will fail." None of the interviewees, including especially Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, offered an explanation as to how the "top-down, hardcore engineering" OMA partner Reinier de Graaf describes will be carried out in any detail, an element which has been a constant source of criticism since the segment was first announced a year ago.

"Many projects acquire their sanity as they go along, and I think very, very much the case here too — and the jury's out," de Graaf stated before bemoaning a "complete lac...

Saudi Arabia begins securing financing agreements for various NEOM developments

2023-07-17T12:52:00-04:00

Saudi Arabia's megaproject Neom is seeking to raise 10 billion riyals ($2.7bn) in loans, according to a report in Bloomberg published on Monday. The early stages of the $500bn planned city will be financed by money raised from local lenders, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg. Banks are currently in negotiations with Neom, and the loan could be completed in the next few months.

A separate $3 billion loan will be required for Shushah Island, the luxury resort component of the $500 billion megadevelopment whose record-setting centerpiece is promised for 2025. Another $800 million was secured recently towards the development of Sindalah, which is set to be the project’s first portion to open next year. $5.6 billion more is on the way to build temporary housing and other facilities for 95,000 workers on The Line. The Saudi Private Investment Fund (which underpins NEOM) holds $778 billion in assets currently, according to Bloomberg.

NEOM goes to Venice to promote its 'zero gravity urbanism' concept

2023-05-17T12:11:00-04:00

A new exhibition titled Zero Gravity Urbanism—Principles for a New Livability will explore the conceptual underpinnings behind Saudi Arabia’s contentious NEOM megadevelopment parallel with the start of the 2023 Venice Biennale on May 20th.

Featuring contributions from Morphosis, Peter Cook, UNStudio, Studio Fuksas, Oyler Wu, and Adjaye Associates, the exhibition presents what organizers say are the $500 billion endeavor’s "seven key principles [...] defined and brought to life through the proposals of architects and urban thinkers, who are envisioning the foundations of a new livability in NEOM."

Other than the plan’s 110-mile main THE LINE segment, details on NEOM’s Oxagon, Trojena, and Sindalah regional developments will also be presented.

Previously on Archinect: OMA, Peter Cook, Morphosis, Adjaye Associates among firms showcasing design proposals in NEOM's recent The Line Experience exhibition

A series of lectures and public presentations will supplement the exhibition. Peter Coo...

UN rights experts weigh in on Saudi Arabia’s planned execution of three NEOM opponents

2023-05-05T17:28:00-04:00

UN rights experts have denounced the pending execution of three members of a Saudi tribe, reportedly in connection with their opposition to a planned Red Sea megacity. [...] The three men – Shadly Ahmad Mahmoud Abou Taqiqa al-Huwaiti, Ibrahim Salih Ahmad Abou Khalil al-Huwaiti and Atallah Moussa Mohammed al-Huwaiti – were reportedly sentenced to death on 5 August last year and their sentences were upheld on appeal on 23 January, the statement said.

The men were originally charged under a 2017 anti-terrorism law. The Saudi government has also reportedly plagued their tribal group with drone surveillance, bribery, and even threats of violence since the announcement of the project the same year. Other opponents inside the development’s massive 105- by 200-mile master planning area have been imprisoned as well.

Previously on Archinect: Opposition to NEOM displacement leads three Saudi tribesmen to death sentences

UN rights experts say their planned deaths cannot be justified by international standards. Saudi Arabia alarmingly executed nearly twice as many citizens between 2015 and 2022 as it did in the four-year period prior, despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's attempts to present himself as a liberal reformer.

AECOM picked as project management consultancy for NEOM International Aiport

2023-03-28T15:40:00-04:00

AECOM has announced that it has been awarded a multi-year contract to provide project management consultancy services for the NEOM International Airport in Saudi Arabia.

The firm will offer support towards master planning, design, and construction services as well as testing, commissioning, operational readiness, activation, and transition. AECOM has been present throughout NEOM’s development so far. In 2019, the firm won a project management contract for the development of NEOM Bay.

Previously on Archinect: Aecom wins project management contract for Saudi Arabia's Neom Bay

Additionally, in more recent news, it was announced that British engineering consultancy Atkins had been enlisted as a strategic Delivery Partner for The Line, the complicated linear city concept that aims to be the centerpiece of the NEOM megaproject.

Previously on Archinect: Atkins joins NEOM as strategic partner for The Line project

“We are very pleased to be part of this innovative NEOM project, which is set ...

Atkins joins NEOM as strategic partner for The Line project

2023-02-24T18:17:00-05:00

British engineering concern Atkins has been announced as a strategic Delivery Partner for The Line, Saudi Arabia’s complicated centerpiece for the NEOM megadevelopment that is set to be constructed in just under three years.

As part of their five-year contract, Atkins will provide project and construction consultancy services in unison with the project’s other, now-assumed partners that include Bechtel, Morphosis, and several leading international firms revealed last month via an exhibition in Riyadh.

In a press release, Atkins stated “[t]he project has adopted a highly collaborative delivery model in response to its scale, complexity, supply chain and requirements for innovation.”

Earlier on Archinect: The Line, the largest part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious NEOM project, looks like a total fantasy

“As a Delivery Partner organization, we will work closely with NEOM and our partners to seamlessly connect people, data and technology to drive innovation, value, efficiency and certainty...

OMA, Peter Cook, Morphosis, Adjaye Associates among firms showcasing design proposals in NEOM's recent The Line Experience exhibition

2023-02-02T15:00:00-05:00

A list of architecture firms involved in the design of Saudi Arabia’s NEOM project has come to light along with a preview exhibition on view now in Riyadh at the Diriyah Biennale Foundation for Contemporary Art that features proposals from unspecified designers.

Peter Cook, Adjaye Associates, OMA, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Studio Fuksas, Oyler Wu Collaborative, Morphosis Architects, Tom Wiscombe Architecture, HOK, Delugan Meissl Architects, UNStudio, and Coop Himmelb(l)au are the entities included in the exhibition, according to a report published recently in the Architects' Journal.

Exhibition image courtesy of NEOM (2022).

The scope of each firm’s involvement remains unclear as the proposals were not credited to anyone specifically. The Architects’ Journal was also unable to obtain either confirmation or quotes from any of the firms named in the exhibition, making it a guessing game that nevertheless reflects on the $500 billion project’s murkiness and the reluctance of global de...

Opposition to NEOM displacement leads three Saudi tribesmen to death sentences

2022-10-18T15:45:00-04:00

Three men have been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia over their alleged opposition to the country’s NEOM project, according to a report published last week by the human rights monitoring group ALQST.

Image courtesy ALQST

The Saudi Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) handed down the sentences on October 2nd in the face of their continued social media criticism and organizing against the government's program of forced evictions that had been enacted in order to make room for the $500 billion megaproject.

Previously: The Line, the largest part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious NEOM project, looks like a total fantasy

The three men are members of the Huwaitat Tribe, a formerly nomadic group endemic to the northern Tabuk province, which has been the subject of bribes, violence, surveillance drones, and other forms of harassment since the first announcement of crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s "new way of living" in 2017. They are also known to be the relatives of Abdul Rahim Al-Huwaiti, a 43-yea...

Oliver Wainwright explores the architectural history behind Saudi Arabia's planned The Line megacity

2022-09-13T09:00:00-04:00

It may now be seen as a dystopian nightmare, the far-flung folly of an autocrat desperate for global approval, but the idea of building a self-contained linear city has preoccupied the imaginations of architects and planners for generations. The Line might bill itself as a “never-before-seen approach to urbanisation”, but the principles behind it have been proposed many times over – though never successfully realised.

The Guardian critic writes that the outlandish NEOM project structure resembled a “habitable supercomputer” and cites a recent Bloomberg report that names Marvel Comics designer Olivier Pron as one of its many non-architect digital designers before pinning the massive project’s “ominous dystopian undertone” on Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s apparent penchant for cyberpunk aesthetics. “If ever there was an urban vision that embraced our end-of-days climate apocalypse,” he laments, “then this is it.”

Previously on Archinect: The Line, the largest part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious NEOM project, looks like a total fantasy

Wainwright then turns to the architectural history books for further insights into the history of the linear megacity concept. Examples from a young Michael Graves/Peter Eisenman pairing, Superstudio, Kenzo Tange, Le Corbusier, Edgar Chambless, constructivist Mikhail Okhitovich, and 19th-century Spanish planner Arturo Soria y Mata, whom Wainwright claims invented the...

The Line, the largest part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious NEOM project, looks like a total fantasy

2022-07-29T08:30:00-04:00

A clearer picture of Saudi Arabia’s mind-blowing NEOM megaproject is coming together after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s office unveiled plans for an elevated 170-kilometer (105 miles) long linear city called The Line that he says will eventually house more than 9 million people.

According to the Saudi government, The Line will “embody how urban communities will be in the future in an environment free from roads, cars, and emissions.” It is designed to run 100% on renewables and prioritize individual health and well-being while helping the state preserve some 95% of NEOM’s total existing land. The development will be confined to a 34-square-kilometer (13.1-square-mile) footprint to reduce infrastructure encroachment into nature.

Image courtesy of NEOM

The Line comes complete with a high-speed rail system capable of transporting riders from end to end in the development within 20 minutes. The rest of the habitation’s layout will be based on the principles of a concept called "Zer...