Preliminary construction work on the mind-boggling Mukaab tower scheme has been reported in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The cube-like structure, whose volume is equivalent to 64 million cubic meters (more than 2.2 billion cubic feet), is apparently large enough to contain 20 Empire State Buildings. It will become the centerpiece of a new downtown core for the city called ‘New Murabba’ once completed.
At its core, another tower-like structure anchors over 21.5 million square feet of floor space dedicated to shopping and inspired by traditional Islamic architecture. Montreal-based AtkinsRéalis has been named as the designer.
Promotional video for the Mukaab tower scheme. Via Public Investment Fund/YouTube
Its stated dimensions mean it would surpass the Boeing Everett Factory in Washington State to become the world's largest building upon completion. Construction is said to require some 900 workers on-site daily and will likely wrap up by the end of 2030.
3 Comments
so... 900 slaves on site daily?
For those unaware, AtkinsRéalis, previously known as SNC-Lavalin, is a giant civil and p.eng firm. They changed their name 5 years ago when they were caught taking bribes from the Libyan government (unofficially linked to their work building prisons in parts of the world with terrible human right history).
Well, yeah but SNC bought Atkins and then changed their name. That said most US and UK AEC firms do a lot of "bad" stuff overseas and at home. Zero ethics.
Anyways this project still looks like "a d*ck in a box"
disgusting
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