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Dr Sumaya Bint Sulaiman Al Sulaiman has become the first woman in Saudi Arabia to be appointed dean of a design college. Al Sulaiman now heads the College of Design at the Imam Abdul Rahman Bin Faysal University
...the highest administrative position for a Saudi woman at a public college or university was vice-dean, except at Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, an exclusively for women university in the capital Riyadh.
— Gulf News
Dr. Al Sulaiman's appointment at the University of Dammam College of Design last month is one of two groundbreaking university dean appointments in Saudi Arabia. She was appointed days after Dr. Dalal Namnaqani, who became the first woman to become dean at the Taif University College of... View full entry
Diriyah, Saudi Arabia is home to the Turaif district, the first capital of Saudis and an UNESCO world heritage site since 2010. Appropriately, ZHA's winning design for the Urban Heritage Administration Centre in Diriyah will help maintain the area's UNESCO distinction, including an exhibition... View full entry
Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which is set to the world’s tallest building, is over 20% complete, according to the developers.
The planned 1km-tower has already reached the 37th floor and is on track for completion by 2018 [...].
Although the number of habitable floors has not yet been revealed [...] expects it to be around 167 floors tall on completion.
Jeddah Tower, formerly known as Kingdom Tower, is set to overtake the 830-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the world’s tallest tower.
— meconstructionnews.com
Kingdom—pardon—Jeddah Tower previously in the Archinect news:Kingdom Tower megaproject secures new funding to complete long-delayed constructionInstallation of UltraRope elevators begins at Kingdom TowerWork to start next month on 1km Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaAS+GG Designs Kingdom... View full entry
The developer behind the Kingdom Tower, set to become the world’s tallest building, has secured new funding to complete its construction. [...]
The company said that 26 of the planned 252 floors of the tower had been completed by contractor Saudi Binladin Group (SBL).
The tower would overtake the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the world’s tallest building when it is expected to be completed in 2018.
— thenational.ae
Related news on Archinect:Work to start next month on 1km Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaAS+GG Designs Kingdom Tower, to Be the World’s Tallest BuildingSaudi Arabia's uneasy relationship with its cultural heritage of Mecca and Medina View full entry
The systematic destruction of Saudi Arabia is under way—in silence. Historic mosques, tombs, mausoleums, monuments and houses: more than 90% of the old quarters of the holiest cities of Islam has been razed to make room for a new urban landscape of hotels, shopping centres and apartment blocks. [...]
Construction works have already transformed Mecca and Medina into cities without a past, dominated by skyscrapers.
— theartnewspaper.com
Built in 1780 and leveled in 2002 for the construction of the Makkah Royal Clock Tower hotel complex, the Ottoman Ajyad Fortress is just one of many historic sites that are being destroyed and replaced by hotel towers, condo skyscrapers and parking lots. Related news on Archinect:More than... View full entry
The Gulf in the Middle East, the heartland of the global oil industry, will suffer heatwaves beyond the limit of human survival if climate change is unchecked, according to a new scientific study.
The extreme heatwaves will affect Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and coastal cities in Iran as well as posing a deadly threat to millions of Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, when the religious festival falls in the summer.
— The Guardian
"The study shows the extreme heatwaves, more intense than anything ever experienced on Earth, would kick in after 2070 and that the hottest days of today would by then be a near-daily occurrence."Related:Luxury Anthropocene: Dubai gets its first private floating islandsIt's only August but humans... View full entry
At least 52 people were killed when a crane crashed in Mecca’s Grand Mosque on Friday, Saudi Arabia’s civil defence authority said on its Twitter account.It said 30 people were injured.
The Muslim annual Haj pilgrimage is due later this month and Saudi authorities go to great lengths to be prepared for the millions of Muslims who converge on Mecca.
— theguardian.com
UAE-based X-Architects has won a competition to design a new masterplan for Makkah, Saudi Arabia - the holiest city in the world for Muslims. [...]
“We proposed a complex network of pedestrian routes on different levels to enhance the movement during the “Nafrah” [...]
“The surrounding roads have either been bridged or tunneled so as to strengthen the pedestrian tissue. This will solve the current situation of the constant crash between people and vehicles.”
— constructionweekonline.com
All images via X-Architects' website. Learn more about the proposal here.In case you were looking for royal floors and helipads, you may get lucky over here: World's largest hotel under construction in Mecca — and it's worse than you thought. View full entry
Abraj Kudai is to become the world's largest hotel located in Makkah, Saudi Arabia and upon completion, will offer 10,000 rooms in 12 separate towers. [...]
The Saudi Binladin Group holds the main construction contract, and work on the $3.5 billion hospitality project has already started. [...]
The architecture is set to create an iconic landmark that will reflect a contemporary interpretation of a traditional desert fortress.
— constructionweekonline.com
Related:Has Mecca Been Robbed of its History?Mecca's mega architecture casts shadow over hajj View full entry
KONE has initiated the first stage of elevator and escalator installations at Saudi Arabia’s 1km-tall Kingdom Tower.
The Finnish lift firm is currently fitting elevator guiderails at the project, which is being developed by Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) and is set to become the world’s tallest building on completion.
— constructionweekonline.com
Related: The new elevator technology that will let cities soar far higher View full entry
The dominant architectural site in [Mecca] is not the Sacred Mosque, where the Kaaba, the symbolic focus of Muslims everywhere, is. It is the obnoxious Makkah Royal Clock Tower hotel, which, at 1,972 feet, is among the world’s tallest buildings. It is part of a mammoth development of skyscrapers that includes luxury shopping malls and hotels [...] The city is now surrounded by the brutalism of rectangular steel and concrete structures — an amalgam of Disneyland and Las Vegas. — NY Times
The leading Saudi artist Ahmed Mater, who caused a stir with a series of photographs depicting the rampant redevelopment around Mecca, is due to take part in his first public talk in the UK at Sotheby’s London (12 August). Mater will also discuss this work in relation to other cities such as Jerusalem and Medina during the discussion, entitled “Contemporary photography and hybrid architecture”. — theartnewspaper.com
Related: Mecca's mega architecture casts shadow over hajj View full entry
This report explores the historical castles and fortresses in Saudi Arabia’s al-Medina Al-Munawwarah, the Islamic faith’s second holy city. Al-Medina holds Prophet Mohammad’s Mosque and is 450 kilometers north of Makkah. Al Arabiya’s correspondent Khamis Al-Zahrani went on a mission to explore the city and discussed how urban expansions are posing a threat to its unique architecture. — Al-Arabiya
A training barracks used by Roman gladiators and the 2,000-year-old mausoleum of the Emperor Augustus could be restored with money from the Saudi royal family, in the latest effort by Italy to secure funding for its crumbling cultural heritage.
In a deal brokered by Ignazio Marino, the mayor of Rome, the Saudi royals are to provide millions of euros to pay for the restoration of some of the capital's neglected monuments.
— telegraph.co.uk
Related: Greece protests over government plans to sell off historic national buildings View full entry
Once complete the tower will be the world’s tallest, beating current record holder the 828m-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Client Jeddah Economic Company has not yet confirmed the exact height of the tower, but has indicated it will be over 1km tall.
In December, contractor Saudi Bauer completed piling work for the tower, including sinking 270 piles up to a depth of 110m.
— bdonline.co.uk