Riyadh-based photographer Faisal Bin Zarah has documented the construction process of a major new project soon to be completed in his home city. The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is projected to be completed next year, eight years after construction began in 2012.
But before the architecture world becomes familiar with the smooth uniformity of its final form when it's completed a year from now, the photos taken by Bin Zarah providing another, more rough-hewn perspective of the 485,000 square foot project. The metro station's webbed steel construction currently allows the citizens of Riyadh to see directly through it while still getting a preview of its monumental yet sinuous outline. In this phase, it is perhaps easiest to see that the building was designed by mapping the desired connections across the site, using the parametric methods championed by Patrik Schumacher, the firm's principal architect.
According to Construction Week Online, "the external steel structure weighs approximately 4,237 tonnes (t) with a further 2,785t for the interior steel structure." The design is a uniquely impressive feat of engineering for the firm, given that the structure is freestanding over the station, only touching base at ground level.
7 Comments
They really need to get a new name. This is robbing the grave
I like it better without the skin.
Me too.
8 years in construction and still not finished. Not exactly an exercise in efficiency from any point of view. #fuckingwaste
You're gonna be so mad when you find out about cathedrals.
if just that skeleton were placed in a park space, so people could walk around an inside it, but the ground were earth, and vines and trees were allowed to take it over...that would be better.
this is a feat in engineering
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.