Kingdom City Jeddah, Calthorpe Associates, world architecture news, architecture jobs

18/02/13 Ivan, Sydney

Spending billions whilst thousands of people in the nation of saud are struck with poverty

19/02/13 Geoff, SF

Spending billions amid starvation and poverty has been going on for many, many years...

19/02/13 C. Crawford, Washington DC

Anthonie van Vliet’s statement is rather naive. Vertical cities have been round since the mid part of the last century and the concept has had limited success. On the surface this looks like more of the same, overstated architecture and planning partly financed by oil money.

22/02/13 Mark, Toronto

Looks like a giant swizzle stick! Maybe an excuse to hide a bar on every floor?

22/02/13 abu razeen, kuala lumpur

in present property market, the top three considerations are:
1. location
2. location
3. location

in this " 'Umbruch' towards vertical living" the top three considerations are:
1. wasteage
2. wasteage
3. wasteage

19/03/13 R. Poplar, Orlando

I think this " 'Umbruch' towards vertical living" is simply about which nation builds the biggest "tower" and by extension of this thought which leaders have the biggest "tower". I too think Anthonie van Vliet is naive on this point.

20/03/13 Kyle, Fort Wayne

Such concepts may actually make economic sense in congested urban areas, constrained from expanding, and with "sky-high" (pun intended) property values. On 5.3 million m^2 of empty desert, it's purely a "urinating competition" amongst those whose wealth and ego exceed their vision and sense of priority.

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19/03/13 Salah Amer, NC

Why all that height in a desert, after some time it will be pooring.

19/03/13 tom, athelstone

If one makes a comment, think of one thing; charity did not win over poverty but work did. By investing money in a project made lot of people be employed.

19/03/13 Guido, Brisbane

Money well spent. It is a step further in attempting to solve the problem of overpopulation for many generations to come. The way poor and rich people live, deserves to be respected. I do not think that simple living people require disgraceful public welfare gifts and help from good-doers.

19/03/13 Paul, Brisbane

There are no natural "forests, lakes and nature" thriving in the Saudi deserts. This is just crap wastage, trying to show the world who has the biggest @%#@.

20/03/13 pete, K.L.

Im sure it costs millions to even have a single room apartment, which they wouldnt have anyway, but to all those rich Saudis or whomever oil made billionaires wont be a problem. Hopefully we can get off the fossil fuels and they can all sink back down where they belong, staggering excess in the face of all the less fortunate.

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20/03/13 T.K.Sunil, Chennai, INDIA

The maintenance and living costs for human habitats in such steel/concrete/glass structures must be evaluated first. There is little doubt that it will cost at least 5 times more than living in a 2 or 3 bedroom home at ground level. A lot of fossil energy will be required, for each time to enter and get out of your home( in a elevator). On the other hand, there will be an improvement in human health because of better quality of air at higher levels. In Saudi Arabia, unlike Japan or HongKong, there is no constraint on land space. They have plenty of land available to develop for human habitat at ground level itself. Hence it seems like it is a prestige project of the Saudi citizens. Lets all wish them success, since such economic activities in Asia will boost the prosperity of Asians and bring more businesses to set shop in Asia.

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23/03/13 Ralph, Los Angeles

Strong similarity, at a glance, to the 1951 "Illinois" tower design presented to Mayor Daley of Chicago, Illinois. One of the original drawings was executed on a roll of canvas 22 feet long, which Frank Lloyd Wright used to dramatic effect during the highly-publicized unveiling. That design has been published widely over the last 62 years.
In an earlier interview, architect Adrian Smith mentioned how inspired he'd been by Wright's work when he was young. I see this as a diminutive, though still fitting tribute to an American master: Wright's skyscraper was 5,280 feet tall, thus it was known as the "Mile-High Illinois".

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Master planners and urban architects announced for SR75 billion city development

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