What's special about Saudi's $50B building, a 400m cube
Saudi Arabia has broken ground on The Mukaab, a project that will become the "world's largest building." The ambitious $50 billion development's groundbreaking ceremony was held in Riyadh. When completed, The Mukaab will stand 1,300 feet tall and 1,200 feet wide. It will be so voluminous that 20 Empire State Buildings could fit inside it.
The Mukaab: A self-contained metropolis with AI features
The mammoth 400 meter cube will be a self-sustained metropolis, providing 2 million square feet of floor space for amenities. These will include fine dining restaurants, retail shops, offices, and restaurants. The building will also accommodate 104,000 residential units and 9,000 hotel rooms. The New Murabba Development Company calls it a "human-first" project with green spaces reachable within 15 minutes from anywhere inside the cube.
AI and local architecture influence Mukaab's design
The design of The Mukaab draws heavily from local ecology and regional architecture. Its exterior will be covered in gigantic screens, much like the Las Vegas Sphere, creating immersive experiences through artificial intelligence. The area around it will mimic wadis (Arabic for riverbed formations), with paths like desert streams leading up to the building. The square design pays homage to Najdi architecture, famous for its mudbrick buildings and centralized courtyards.
Mukaab's economic impact and completion timeline
The Mukaab project will contribute over $51 billion to Saudi Arabia's non-oil GDP, giving it a major boost. It will also generate some 334,000 jobs, further energizing the economy. Some 900 workers will be involved in the construction process, which is expected to be completed by 2030. This development is a key part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "Saudi Vision 2030" initiative to diversify the economy and reduce dependence on oil revenue.
Mukaab is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative
Other projects include "Oxagon," a floating port city; "Trojena," a mountain tourism destination; and "NEOM," a city powered entirely by renewable energy. Plans for "THE LINE," a concept building housing up to nine million people, are also underway with all projects aimed for completion by 2030. Saudi Arabia has previously financed record-breaking engineering projects. Examples include Jeddah Tower, designed to be the world's highest building, and The Line, envisioned as a 170-kilometer-long, mirrored, smart city.
