KUWAIT | Mubarak Tower | 3,283 FT / 1,001 M | VISION

[Slugbelch]

1001 meter Mubarak Tower proposed:




It is located in Madinat al Hareer or "City of Silk" in Kuwait.

[malec]

[Slugbelch]

Architects plan kilometre-high skyscraper
17:48 09 December 2005
NewScientist.com news service

Blueprints for a kilometre-tall skyscraper have been drawn up by UK architects, who hope to see the record-breaking structure commissioned in Kuwait.

At 1001 metres, the enormous tower would be almost twice the height of the world's tallest building today, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which stands at 509 metres. The new building would also dwarf the Burj Dubai, a building under construction in Dubai that is expected to stand 700-800 metres tall once completed in 2008.

Architecture firm Eric Kuhne and Associates, based in London, UK, has drawn up plans for the skyscraper. Although the designs have yet to be made public, the company is reported to be in talks with the Kuwaiti government about construction.

Representatives told the Architects' Journal that the Kuwaiti government is considering commissioning the building for a city called Madinat al-Hareer, or the "City of Silk". The skyscraper could house 7000 people, but would cost an estimated £84bn to construct and could take 25 years to complete.

Triple-decker elevators
Mohsen Zikri, a skyscraper expert with the UK engineering company Arup, says such an immensely tall building would pose extraordinary challenges for its designers. For example, it could be tricky to include enough elevators (lifts) to move people up and down efficiently.

"As a building gets taller you need more lifts, but that can consume more of the core of the building," Zikri told New Scientist. The solution, he says, could be to use double-decker, or even triple-decker lifts instead of conventional ones.

Another issue, according to Zikri, would be ensuring that the movement caused by wind at the top of the building is controlled. In some skyscrapers this is managed by incorporating a pendulum-like counterweight at the top of the structure, which dampens any lateral motion.

The design of such a tall building would also have to prevent wind whirling around it, as this could produce powerful vortexes on the ground. Finally, Zikri notes that construction work would pose a massive logistical challenge.

[Fabb]

Originally Posted by Slugbelch

Architecture firm Eric Kuhne and Associates, based in London, UK, has drawn up plans for the skyscrape.

Has this firm designed skyscrapers before ?

[Dylan Leblanc]

Wow. I like those fins.

[STR]

How do I submit a drawing for a building not in the database?

[Slugbelch]

250 floor version assuming every floor is approx. 4m:

[malec]

The building is now added STR

[STR]

I'll see what I can do model wise. The shape isn't very intuitive.

[SaF9]

ahaha @ the LA skyline surrounding the building
..in fact I think i see san diegos hyatt hotel in there too

[polishavenger]

at 84 billion pounds to construct to house only 7000 people, how can this be economically justified?

[dcmcgov]

Originally Posted by polishavenger

at 84 billion pounds to construct to house only 7000 people, how can this be economically justified?

As with many urban plans from this region, the details are fuzzy at first, but I've found some facts on this project:

-The tower is just one part of a massive urban planning concept called "Madinat al-Hareer" (City of Silk).
-The name of the 1001 metre tower is actually The Burj al-Kabir Tower (The Tower of 1001 Nights).
-The entire development will eventually house 700,000 people (not 7,000) and create 200,000 new jobs.
-It is expected to cost up to 100 Billion dollars and take 25 years to complete.
-It will be a massive network of 25 seperate residential communities.
-Districts include: "Business City", "Culture City", "Park City", "Leisure City", "Industrial City" and "Media City".
-It will be built directly across the Kuwait Bay from Kuwait City, and will be linked by a 23.5 Kilometer bridge.
-Along with the massive residential, commercial, civic and leisure developments, it is expected to be one of the most popular world travel destinations.
-Plans also call for a massive national park, world class wildlife reserve and an olympic village with stadiums.
-A new international airport and tourism port are also included.

The plans look extremely impressive. Check them out here:

http://www.civicart.com/
-and here-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madinat_al-Hareer

[LostInTheZone]

Originally Posted by polishavenger

at 84 billion pounds to construct to house only 7000 people, how can this be economically justified?

of course it can't be economically justified. No skyscraper too much over 1000 feet can be, because you have to give up more and more floor area to utilities and elevators. supertalls are for show, and this is ridiculous.

awesome design though, however impractical it might be.

edit- ExIth, these new cities are a last-ditch too-late effort by these countries to diversify their economies in the face of the fact that their oil reserves are declining and they currently have nothing to replace them.

[Slugbelch]

Atkins wins tallest tower in the world
by Sean Cronin and Angela Giuffrida
Saturday, 27 May 2006

Atkins has been appointed structural engineer on what is set to become the tallest tower in the world — and at one kilometre tall would eclipse the Burj Dubai.

The 250-storey Mubarak Tower in Kuwait would be almost twice the size of the world’s current tallest building — Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

The record-breaking structure will form the centrepiece
of the US $150 billion (KD43.3 billion) Madinat al Hareer, or ‘City of Silk’.

The 1,001m-tall tower would form the centrepiece of the Madinat al Hareer
- City of Silk - a proposed US $150 billion development in Northern Kuwait.

Architects at Kuhne and Associates are behind the designs for the tower and the city development, which will be built over 25 years.

“Everything has been unanimously endorsed — the Emir of Kuwait and prime minister have backed the project,” said a spokesperson at Eric Kuhne and Associates.

“We’re just waiting on final approval and for a planning committee to be formally set up to front the project.”

According to Mike Otlet, director and head of structures at Atkins, the tower would form ‘a complete city in the sky’, and would be made up of offices, apartments, a school, a medical centre, and possibly a mosque.

“The tower will be built in three blocks linked together, which will give us more flexibility in terms of the lifts,” he said.

“We’re working with lift specialists on how we can develop and install larger lifts. We’re also exploring the wind force measures that would be needed for a structure of 1,001 metres.”

The City of Silk, described as ‘the new Manhattan’, will cover a 250km2 site in Subiya, Northern Kuwait — transforming
the area into a hub for up to 700,000 people.

The project will create a major new city at the gateway to the famous Silk Route across central Asia, and will be linked to
Kuwait City by a new bridge — the Jabir Al Kabir.

Significant new infrastructure, including a new seaport, railway and an international airport will be built to support the development. Construction is expected to start in September.

“Kuwait is a low energy city, so we will have to look into this and other environmental aspects,” added Otlet.

“We’re confident we’ll get final approval from the Kuwaiti government. It’s a long process because at the moment nobody can buy land or accommodation unless they’re a Kuwaiti resident. So the parliamentary rules on development will need to be changed.”

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by LostInTheZone

of course it can't be economically justified. No skyscraper too much over 1000 feet can be, because you have to give up more and more floor area to utilities and elevators. supertalls are for show, and this is ridiculous.

awesome design though, however impractical it might be.

edit- ExIth, these new cities are a last-ditch too-late effort by these countries to diversify their economies in the face of the fact that their oil reserves are declining and they currently have nothing to replace them.

In big cities I think it's justified because of the lack of development space....or where the real estate value is so high that it is practial. It's just many of the cities putting up large towers really don't need them. Places like Manhattan, Hong Kong, Tokoyo, etc could use them.

[Jets4Life]

This is insane!!

[Sacto]

Wooaah...

[kevininlb]

Originally Posted by LostInTheZone

of course it can't be economically justified. No skyscraper too much over 1000 feet can be, because you have to give up more and more floor area to utilities and elevators. supertalls are for show, and this is ridiculous.

awesome design though, however impractical it might be.

edit- ExIth, these new cities are a last-ditch too-late effort by these countries to diversify their economies in the face of the fact that their oil reserves are declining and they currently have nothing to replace them.

So...are they not supposed to try to diversify their economies? That makes no sense. And Dubai's doing a pretty good job of diversifying in large part because they've been busy building buildings that aren't economically feasible, but that are attracting many new industries and tourism. Were the Petronis (sp?) Towers economically feasible or necessary? No! But the new buildings sprouting up around them suggest the area is now attracting business and tourism.

[mateolago]

hola chicuelos

[arnoldous]

Oh my god!!! this is crazy!!!! but is only proposed isn´t it?? And 25 years to be complete, too much don´t you think??