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.
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 "Zero Gravity Urbanism," which allows for a three-directional movement of people via a stacked program. By enacting a vertical arrangement of its critical infrastructure, the Saudis say, The Line allows for all daily needs to be accessed in under 5 minutes.
The only thing missing from the renderings are flying taxis and a certain orange-haired heroine. The renderings feature a gigantic mirrored facade that, though the government says is meant reflective of the surrounding landscape, in reality, creates an imposing and unnatural presence made even worse by its 500-meter height.
A press release mentioned the need to “significantly advance construction technologies” in order for it to even be attempted. Its listed dimensions mean the structure would stand as the world’s 12th tallest building (not to mention the longest) if and when it is successfully completed. Along those lines, certain social media users were quick to question the plan's ultimate feasibility.
“NEOM is leading a team of the brightest minds in architecture, engineering, and construction to make the idea of building upwards a reality.” the Prince said of the project’s unique challenges. “At The Line's launch last year, we committed to a civilizational revolution that puts humans first based on a radical change in urban planning. The designs revealed today for the city's vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability."
56 Comments
So the partners listed are all brand-related: McLaren, an NGO, and a soccer club. Not a planner, engineer, or design firm listed yet.
Maybe this is a metaverse project after all.
Morphosis has designed this stupid project, as per the WSJ report.
Ah OK. I read they were on the overall NEOM panel but didn't see a public announcement that they actually designed this particular project.
Mayne's late age career has taken a strange turn. Didn't he use to be a rebel of sorts, the man who fights the system?
That's funny when you think about how power works. Honestly, how is this different than the equally absurd projects found in most studio classrooms? At least somebody got an outlandish fee for drawing this.
This looks like a cross between a freshman project and a video game sandbox! The render style, with all the lens flare, really reminds me of games.
I spent a few brain cells (ok more than a few) thinking about this - perhaps Mayne decided to take the money and design something that he was SURE would not be built ever ,,, that could be the rebel streak...
The Saudi development world works with Architects. Neom will have a few technologies the world will marvel at.
Rebel who?
Modernity ended the rebellious fad across Architecture; every hangover from the post-con burning man brunch seems more real every second. As for Saudi Arabia, the phased plan for the future home of their princes has the ability to make money from Africa and Asia via energy. If they plan European farming towers managed by Urban-Gro or something equivalent, the educated future of Saudi Arabia can afford urban dwelling in well organized sectors: the Line. The solar arrays should already be manufactured by Tesla.
Why?
This is such a ridiculous concept... it's been beaten to death since Corb's Plan Obus. MVRV's KM3 comes to mind as better thought out "experiment".
side note, this shit was a focus of my graduate thesis which I defended 15y ago.
a bit too egalitarian. they should throw in some observation towers and penthouses.
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!!!! Blade Runner revisted:-((((. Morphosis should just change their firm to a digital gaming design studio and not wreak more havoc with Thom Mayne atrocities on ANY society....even Saudi Arabia!!!
Beyond the megalomaniacal thinking behind this, there is the metallic coldness of this proposal. Paolo Soleri just shivered in his grave.
Could you outline the main problems you see in this concept? Putting aside aesthetics or personal opinion...
are you blind?
Problem #1…It’s in Saudi Arabia
True. But maybe it couldn't happen anywhere else, assuming it can happen at all.
If anyone could do it, it's in places with no concern over human rights, environment, labour laws, economy, etc. So I guess it's fitting for this specific kick to can.
Morphosis as ridiculous as ever
Without fantasy there is sometimes no reality. The biggest puzzle is that this entire project is being executed with consultants and Neom is only hiring Saudi nationals . If it is a truly global project where more that half the proposed inhabitants of the city will be NON Saudi nationals, it is prescient that they do not form part of or are included in the core team to make this vision a reality .
The Germans did it first! Prora is finally being completed. It was started in WW II as a vacation spot for workers.
I mean, why not? The way we are currently building on and inhabiting the earth is destroying it, so why not try a new way of habitation that is “free from roads, cars, and emissions” and leaves 95% of the land near it in a natural state? Sign me up.
Yeah my reaction too. There will be issues with any concept at this scale but we need radical changes to human habitation to address overpopulation, industry and waste. This looks like trying.
A 500m tall slab of mirrors will destroy more than 95% of the land its trying to save. And that said, this whole project is about MBS wanting "his pyramids". He does not give a flying F about nature or ecology, and yes cutting of natural stormwater courses as well as natural animal trails.
A wonderful post by cairoobserver:
cairobserver
Over the past couple of weeks I received a few media requests for comment about the proposed Saudi “city”, The Line. Here is a quick comment, feel free to quote:
The Line in three dimensions is in fact a wall. Both the straight line and the wall are artifacts of colonial modernity, cutting across natural landscapes as if drawn on mute maps. Straight lines across the terrain are reminiscent of borders, a colonial invention of territorial sovereignty which in practice for most post-colonial territories has translated into a limit demarcating open-air human zoos where populations previously free to move require visas and travel permissions. A wall stretching that distance is reminiscent of colonial demarcations born out of militarized paranoia such as the fence between the US and Mexico or the wall enclosing the shrinking Palestinian territories into a shooting range for settlers to take their guns and go hunting. It is no wonder American and Israeli references come to mind as these are Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical interlocutors.
The project is greenwashed from its inception, evoking an environmentally friendly city. Capitalism is in direct conflict with the preservation of the earth, and such proposals erase the fact that a 500 meter tall, 200 meter wide, 170 kilometer long structure inhabited by 9 million people will require an immense amount of material from the earth to be reshaped into another totalitarian environment governed within a corporate logic and drawing on 1980s Hollywood visions of the future which already drew on earlier fantasies. Like The Line’s mirrored facade, the best capitalism can do is hide and displace environmental damage, like a Tesla battery requires the continued abuse of the labor and resources of places like the Congo to sell a “green” product to gullible consumers.
A green democratic urban future will not be built in one sweep by large powerful entities abusing the resources of the earth and relying on hallucinations to sell to a small segment of society
That’s a good response, and I agree with all of it. But I have no fear this proposal will ever be built, so I’m going to go ahead and enjoy the idea.
Yes, in that way, Morphosis may have masterstroke - design something that will never be build in that brutal regime
A luddite green decentralised anti-capital low-density battery-free society solving the problems of suburban sprawl, global overpopulation and diminishing resources is more unlikely than Neom.
What, exactly, about this scheme is “Luddite”?
The repost above smacks of anti-technology to me but it's not exact.
it's not anti-technology (whatever that means), it's anti overused and non-sensical pastiches marketing themselves as innovative solutions to a problem older than sliced bread. This type of "project" has been done and abused countless times since pre WW2.... this one here is no different if you ignore the shininess. They are thought experiments, not design solutions.
I was referring to the 'cairoobserver' repost above, not sure how overuse/nonsense applies there. Also - compacting sprawl into highrise to maximise infrastructure efficiency is urbanisation, not a thought experiment. It's too easy to slag this off as just another utopian/dystopian fantasy, the fact there is real money behind it makes it interesting whether you like it or not.
There is nothing new in this proposal that has not already been designed before. How about you spend more time in your arch history books and less time kissing shiny 3D model ass.
Non sequitur indeed.
I said above, back in July, that this was a fantasy that would never be built. Now that three people are being murdered because of it, and construction grading is apparently underway, I regret my naivete. And I'm very scared for our future. https://archinect.com/news/article/150327231/opposition-to-neom-displacement-leads-three-saudi-tribesmen-to-death-sentences
This one reads like rather a one-liner, (no pun,) but not entirely out of the blue. There are precedents from Morphosis research and proposals. (See; Combinatory Urbanism)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pEkr8kl4jo&t=1591s&ab_channel=AIALosAngeles
I hear this place will be a journo-free zone.
No, journalists will be at the breakfast bar. Actually journalists will be the skewered meat section of the breakfast bar.
It looks like another brutal dictator is using a starchitect firm (Morphosis) to Liberal-wash his regime with a shiny object aimed to disguise their crimes. I mean, why not? Its not like we have more important things to focus on. Sit back and enjoy the meta-graphics. (It's better than reality!)
lots of linear schemes posed before. a few circular cities by non-architects. a vertical city concept recently. at least s.a. is trying and there's no sprawl. their previous parti was a series of manageable pedestrian urban nodes along the spine terminating at a semi-floating port. seemed far more buildable than this one. i'm a nobody, but will go head-to-head, with neom, telosa, woven, etc.... any day of the week. better bring it in terms of power, farming, water, sanitation solutions, and so on. i wouldn't disappoint that dude if you catch my drift.
https://www.nonarchitecture.eu...
Wait till you all hear who ACTUALLY designed this crap...
Apparently Morphosis only did the master plan
Doing the master plan on a project like this is like masterminding an evil empire—a bigger role in the crime. This project is like a master plan, site plan, floor plans, elevations, and sections are all rolled into one, anyway. One stop shopping, MBS is no dummy..;))
Yes of course but there's another evil shitster who is responsible for the "detailed" design of this garbage.
several folks were involved according to da internets. i think your hints are too easy.
sadly the videos are down. would have been fun to watch. maybe somebody has a friend at vimeo that could pull it from backups :P
add some other usual suspects:
Multi Pass
throw the graphics on night mode and patch together a decent narrative of all the ways this could go wrong - and there you have it - a nice dystopian sandbox video game. Could probably make more money selling it by download for $70 instead of $7M/SF construction cost.
LIV could lay out a golf course between the two buildings. The winner get a gazillion dollars, the biggest loser gets beheaded on the 18th hole.
https://archinect.com/jobs/ent...
Getting ready for the PR blitz ...
The other guys that did the detailed design of this crap (same guy that was suspended from Sciarc, no names) need to also hire PR staff
To me this feels like the mega hotel casinos of the Vegas strip. Just elongated...BIG move dude! Replace all the fun stuff in Vegas with praying, cover up all the strippers, get rid of booze, and that's this...the most boring casino on earth.
a lot of people forgot that 99% of scientist have been saying for years that the solution to climate crisis is building new megacities in the desert. when are we going to listen to our scientists ??
Can't tell if this is tongue-n-cheek or...
From The Economist (https://www.economist.com/1843...):
"The hotel restaurant was teeming with consultants – all the ones I met were foreign. (I later found a Saudi project manager. “We think we’re about to start working, but every two months the consultants coin a new plan,” he told me. “They’re still doing plans of plans.”) There was a kind of manic short-termism among these foreigners. Many were paid $40,000 a month, plus handsome bonuses. “It’s like riding a bull,” one of the Neom consultants told me. “You know you’re gonna fall, that no one can last on a bull longer than a minute and a half, two minutes, so you make the most of it.”
Despite the high salaries, there are reports that foreigners are leaving the Neom project because they find the gap between expectations and reality so stressful. The head of Neom is said by his friends to be “terrified” at the lack of progress."
Overall, the article conveys the impression that MBS, having consolidated power through violence and coercion, has staffed his government with loyalists and lackies - thereby possibly weakening the mechanisms through which big ideas are executed into concrete policies.
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.