World's First Kilometer Tall Building Begins Construction

[jimmy olsen]

Our cyberpunk future is on the way. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/kingdom-tower-construction-of-1km-high-new-worlds-tallest-building-to-begin-next-week-9271191.html

Kingdom Tower: Construction of 1km high new world's tallest building to begin next week in Saudi Arabia

Construction of what will become the next world's tallest building is set to begin next week in Saudi Arabia.

Once finished, the Kingdom Tower will stand a staggering 1km (3280 feet) high - four times taller than The Shard and over 500 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the current record holder.

Costing a total £780m, the tower, located in the coastal city of Jeddah, will take five years to construct. It is expected to use half a million cubic meters of concrete and around 80,000 tons of steel.

The finished building will cover a total area of over 500,000 square meters and have 200 floors.  There will be 59 elevators, including five that are double deckers. Those that take visitors to the observatory will travel at 10 metres per second.

The Kingdom Tower will be the centerpiece of a £13bn Kingdom City development just north of Jeddah, overlooking the Red Sea.

The new city will consist of over 5.3 million square meters of urban development including housing, commercial property, hotels, offices, shops, educational and commercial centres.

Waleed Abdul Jaleel Batterjee, CEO of the Jeddah Economic Company said: "The vision of constructing the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah belongs to HRH Prince Al Waleed bin Talal.

"His vision is also that the project itself will set the world's sights on our beloved Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and particularly on Jeddah.  Furthermore, the project will help create hundreds of jobs for our Saudi countrymen."

[Josquius]

Because Saudi Arabia is a small and crowded nation which needs to make best use of what land it has?

[Eddie Teach]

Because Saudi Arabia is a small and crowded nation which needs to make best use of what land it has?

That's the kind of consideration real estate developers think of; they want to turn a profit with the building. This one is being funded by oligarchs who want their name attached to something grand.

[Ideologue]

Welcome to Mega-City Saud.

[Monoriu]

Yeah, this feels totally unnecessary to me.  Hong Kong needs tall buildings, with our population density.  But certainly not Saudi Arabia.  They can probably the same amount of floor space with a lot less money if they go for normal buildings.  North Korea did something similar and the building ends up as a joke. 

[garbon]

North Korea did something similar and the building ends up as a joke. 

I think the first couple words explain why it ended up a joke.

[DGuller]

Because Saudi Arabia is a small and crowded nation which needs to make best use of what land it has?

That's the kind of consideration real estate developers think of; they want to turn a profit with the building. This one is being funded by oligarchs who want their name attached to something grand.

Not oligarchs, monarchs. 

To be fair to them, though, Saudia Arabia isn't as vast as it appears.  Outside of the densely-populated coast on the Red Sea, it's a total wasteland.  Even as late as in 1821 you couldn't march armies through it.

[Eddie Teach]

Not oligarchs, monarchs. 

Bit of a stretch when the royal family numbers in the thousands. Also, the article doesn't mention the king.

[DGuller]

Not oligarchs, monarchs. 

Bit of a stretch when the royal family numbers in the thousands. Also, the article doesn't mention the king.

Read next to last paragraph again.

[Eddie Teach]

Princes can be monarchs, but not in a country that has a king. If you want to be nit-picky, you could call them royals.

[DGuller]

Princes can be monarchs, but not in a country that has a king. If you want to be nit-picky, you could call them royals.

Ugh, monarchy is complicated.  Now I know why Russians just killed them all.

[Syt]

It can't be much more of an eyesore than the Royal Clock Tower in Mecca.

[garbon]

Princes can be monarchs, but not in a country that has a king. If you want to be nit-picky, you could call them royals.

Ugh, monarchy is complicated.  Now I know why Russians just killed them all.

Because terminology can be difficult?

[Ideologue]

It can't be much more of an eyesore than the Royal Clock Tower in Mecca.

OMG I can't wait for Wes Anderson's Hajj.

[Valmy]

The Vatican looks like a humble little shrine by comparison.