by What on earth.
Empire state³
As if Saudi Arabia doesn’t already have enough giga construction projects on its plate, a Riyadh-based newspaper Arabic news Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly unveiled plans to build a massive downtown development in the country’s capital called New Murabba. At more than seven square miles in area, it will be about a third the size of Manhattan.
Somehow, that’s not even the most amazing detail of the “world’s largest modern town center.” See the crown jewel of New Murabai: the Mukaab, a gargantuan, hollow skyscraper that reaches almost a quarter of a mile in length in every direction.
Basically, picture the Empire State Building, except it’s a cube that’s as wide as it is tall – and there’s also an extra tower in the center that rivals many skyscrapers themselves.
Immersive World
The Mukaab alone is meant to provide almost 22 million square feet of floor space, which blows almost all buildings in the world out of the water. Everything from tourist spots and hotels to residential areas and commercial spaces are planned to be packed inside.
So far – apart from its bonkers size and the accompanying tower – the interior boasts the typical shapes of a vaunted skyscraper project. But the designers also intend for the Mukaab to be the “world’s first immersive destination” – and trust us, you can’t guess what that means.
By “immersion,” the designers mean a whole digital and virtual world augmented by a holographic sea, claiming “let you live on Mars,” and other destinations.
Visitors can also be immersed in the deep sea, as well as what appears to be the floating Hallelujah Mountains from “Avatar,” according to a promotional video. In other words, it sounds like they intend to make it a huge thing, almost a VR planetarium.
under siege
According to Arabic newsNew Murabba is meant to be built with “sustainability” in mind, but none of the project’s massive architecture exactly scares the environment.
It is so absurd that one can only add another monument to the greatness of the Prince: a literal hundred-mile skyscraper, the construction of which is already underway.
Of course, there are plenty of ridiculous architectural concepts that are never actually built, but if ground has already been broken on the hundred-mile skyscraper, what’s stopping him from doing this?
Construction is planned to be completed by 2030, which is a very short timeline for something on this scale. We think about the human rights violations that could result.
More about the architecture: Satellite Images Show Progress on Saudi Arabia’s 100-Mile Ship Skyscraper
