Tall Building: City of Silk | Burj Mubarak al-Kabir
I'm way into big buildings. They do a lot more for a city's character and future than most people recognize. So, I think it's HAWTaction [hot ak-shuh
n] to keep tabs on new projects like the City of Silk, Shanghai Tower, Russia Tower, Anara Tower, Okhta Tower, Nakheel Harbour and Tower, Bahrain WTC, Honeycomb Skyscraper, Burj Dubai... in Dubai... in Pictures, CCTV and TVCC Towers, Tokyo Sky Tree, Burj Dubai (Revisited), Dancing Towers, Dynamic Tower, Dubai Towers, The Lighthouse (Paris), The Lighthouse (Dubai), Antilla, London's Super Tower, Eiffel Tower, Shuffle Tower, Full Moon, Caspian Bay, Chicago Spire, Chicago's Aqua Tower, Infinity Tower, Teardrop, Christmas Tree or the Burj Dubai.
There are Tall Building posts, then... there.... are.... TALL BUILDING posts. This is one of those all-caps, tell-your-friends, what-the-hell-are-they-building bonanza posts. We aren't just talking about a building in Kuwait. We're talking about an entire city being built in Kuwait, and its crowning jewel will just so happen to be the tallest building in the world. This is Kuwait's City of Silk.
Now, it's a lot to wrap your eyes around, and I think that's the point. It will sit across the Kuwait Bay from from the capital, Kuwait City, and spread over an amazing 250 square kilometers (97 square miles) with 25 neighborhoods and a 23.5 kilometer bridge (14.6 miles) leading to Kuwait City. The bridge will cut the commute to the capital to twenty minutes from over an hour and a half.
This will be a full city, accommodating 700,000 people. Unlike anything in the Arab world (that I've seen) it's also going to designed to be "in tune" with nature. Oh, and it'll have the tallest building in the world... so we're interested. You?
n] to keep tabs on new projects like the City of Silk, Shanghai Tower, Russia Tower, Anara Tower, Okhta Tower, Nakheel Harbour and Tower, Bahrain WTC, Honeycomb Skyscraper, Burj Dubai... in Dubai... in Pictures, CCTV and TVCC Towers, Tokyo Sky Tree, Burj Dubai (Revisited), Dancing Towers, Dynamic Tower, Dubai Towers, The Lighthouse (Paris), The Lighthouse (Dubai), Antilla, London's Super Tower, Eiffel Tower, Shuffle Tower, Full Moon, Caspian Bay, Chicago Spire, Chicago's Aqua Tower, Infinity Tower, Teardrop, Christmas Tree or the Burj Dubai.There are Tall Building posts, then... there.... are.... TALL BUILDING posts. This is one of those all-caps, tell-your-friends, what-the-hell-are-they-building bonanza posts. We aren't just talking about a building in Kuwait. We're talking about an entire city being built in Kuwait, and its crowning jewel will just so happen to be the tallest building in the world. This is Kuwait's City of Silk.
Now, it's a lot to wrap your eyes around, and I think that's the point. It will sit across the Kuwait Bay from from the capital, Kuwait City, and spread over an amazing 250 square kilometers (97 square miles) with 25 neighborhoods and a 23.5 kilometer bridge (14.6 miles) leading to Kuwait City. The bridge will cut the commute to the capital to twenty minutes from over an hour and a half. This will be a full city, accommodating 700,000 people. Unlike anything in the Arab world (that I've seen) it's also going to designed to be "in tune" with nature. Oh, and it'll have the tallest building in the world... so we're interested. You?
The idea behind the City of Silk is to give Kuwait City its "Brooklyn" or "Oakland." Ground has broken (you can see bridges and highways already filling the space) and the entire City is expected to be completed in 2023 after over $100 billion dollars from the government. (Loooooooooooooooong term plans here, people. They are building a city with 2/3 what the U.S. government has already thrown at A.I.G.) The City will have a new airport and a
large business center -- standard sass. But, an Olympic stadium? Wha? Yup, they'll have one. The City will also have the rest of a "city," with centers for media, health, education and
industry; numerous tourist
attractions, hotels, spas, and public gardens. It will be split up into four areas: Finance City, Leisure City, Culture City and Ecologic City. (I wonder what those names mean.)
What I find most amazing, though, is how this city is embracing nature. The City of Silk will have natural desert reservation that spreads for 2 square kilometers. In addition, there will be water everywhere, and no point in the city will be farther than 3 blocks from water or a garden. Those lakes and parks will stream between the 25 neighborhoods, linking them together. That, HAWT readers, is a reason to be excited. This is some revolutionary urban planning.
It's hard to overlook the highlight, though: Burj Mubarak al-Kabir. It is expected to be the tallest building in the world when completed, blowing by the Burj Dubai by over 20%, hitting 1,001 meters (3,284 feet), a reference to 1001 Arabian Nights. That's astonishing. 200 floors, with 7 vertical "neighborhoods," it's going to be a behemoth. Architects CivicArts/Eric R. Kuhne are ready to finalize the plans and start getting the skyscraper going.
There seems to be a lot up in the air with the City of Silk, but this is exactly what gets our blood flowing. We'll certainly be following this closely at HAWT over the next... um... 15 years.
What I find most amazing, though, is how this city is embracing nature. The City of Silk will have natural desert reservation that spreads for 2 square kilometers. In addition, there will be water everywhere, and no point in the city will be farther than 3 blocks from water or a garden. Those lakes and parks will stream between the 25 neighborhoods, linking them together. That, HAWT readers, is a reason to be excited. This is some revolutionary urban planning.
It's hard to overlook the highlight, though: Burj Mubarak al-Kabir. It is expected to be the tallest building in the world when completed, blowing by the Burj Dubai by over 20%, hitting 1,001 meters (3,284 feet), a reference to 1001 Arabian Nights. That's astonishing. 200 floors, with 7 vertical "neighborhoods," it's going to be a behemoth. Architects CivicArts/Eric R. Kuhne are ready to finalize the plans and start getting the skyscraper going. There seems to be a lot up in the air with the City of Silk, but this is exactly what gets our blood flowing. We'll certainly be following this closely at HAWT over the next... um... 15 years.
Look for HAWTaction on Facebook!
Further reading:
Further reading:
Wow, insane.
Happy Holidays to HawtAction.
JLF----how many lumps of coal in your stocking?