Saudi Arabia Plans to Build the World’s Tallest Building

BY KAIKANG WANG



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The tallest building on Earth -- Burj Khalifa in Dubai -- is about to become second in line.
Saudi Arabia is already planning to build a new skyscraper in the port city of Jeddah -- almost twice as tall as the current world champ. The $30 billion project, named “the Kingdom Tower”, was officially approved by the Kingdom Holding Company on April 12th. (Video: CNN)

The height of the new skyscraper will be exactly one mile, which would make it the world’s tallest building.
According to Saudi Gazette:

“The height will take an elevator 12 minutes to get to the top .. .An 8.9-square-mile city will also be built around the Kingdom Tower, which can accommodate 80,000 people and an additional one million visitors.”
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2011041298096

The building contractor should know how to get the job done. After all, as Mirror News reports, it has built the current record holding high-rise.

“Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, which designed the Burj Khalifa, drew up the plans and skyscraper specialist Emaar, based in Dubai, is understood to have won the contract to build the tower outside the Red Sea port of Jeddah as the centre piece of a new city.”

Even though the project was recently approved, there’s already some criticism about it. The Daily Mail interviews the deputy editor of The Architects' Journal, who says:

“'The race to build the highest skyscraper is quite futile - where do you stop? ...These buildings are missing the point and are a symbol of an old fashioned way of thinking.”

However, this is not the only opinion on giant skyscrapers. When interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Antony Wood, executive director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, says...

“The question isn't how tall they will go, but how well they will work in clusters ... What needs to come next is connections at higher levels. That will be another big step toward the city of the future.”

The owner of the project, the Kingdom Holding Company, is the largest company in Saudi Arabia, which is also a shareholder of Apple, McDonald's and Amazon. 94% shares of the company are held by the country’s royal member -- Prince Alwaleed.


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4. Added :15-Apr-11
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