In Islam, the endless competition in the construction of the highest buildings is interpreted as a sign of the coming of the end of the world - the day of the loan. But for some reason it does not confuse the devout inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia and the UAE continue to compete at home above ... Before Dubai built Burj Khalifa (828 meters), as a neighboring country began to build Burj Jeddah, the height of a kilometer. Before it was completed, Dubai dug a foundation pit for the Creek Harbor Tower.
As everyone knows, now the tallest building on the planet is Burj Khalifa. Originally, it was assumed that the project of the 705 m high tower would be a modified project of the Australian "Grollo Tower" (560 m). Project managers said that the height would in any case be more than 700 m (i.e. the Burj Caliph after completion would in any case be the tallest structure on Earth). In September 2006, the society heard rumors about the final height of 916 m and then even 940 m. But nevertheless the final height has made 828 meters at 163 floors (not including technical levels).
In 2013, construction of the "Royal Tower" (Burj Jeddah) began. The first project assumed the height of about 1600 meters, but after analyzing the soil it was decided to reduce the altitude to one kilometer.
The skyscraper was to be handed over already in 2019. So what happened?
The initiator of this unique project and a giant skyscraper was the richest Prince of the world, al-Walid ibn Talal ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud, better known as Prince al-Walid.
The chief architect was Adrian Smith, who is known for his extraordinary skyscraper projects in the USA, China and the UAE. Smith, together with an architectural firm from Chicago, created a truly fantastic concept for the city of the future, with the Royal Tower, 1007 meters high, as its heart. It was planned to allocate 2.2 billion dollars for its construction alone, and at least 70 billion investments will be needed to create the entire infrastructure of the city, designed for 80 thousand residents.
The highlight of the project should be an observation deck, whose diameter will reach 30 meters and will be located at an altitude of 157 floors of the giant tower. According to developers' calculations, from such a height will open a fantastic panoramic view of the Red Sea and its surroundings within a radius of 140 km.
Construction of an unprecedented structure that began in 2013 and was due to be completed in 2018, but the money from the royal family was enough only for 26 floors, so construction was stopped.
Meanwhile, another high tower in Dubai Creek Harbor - abandoned to construction because of the coronavirus epidemic. The largest developer of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Amar Prpetris temporarily froze work on all his projects in Dubai because of a tight quarantine. This also affected the construction of a tower in the Dubai Creek urban area, which was to surpass by 100 meters the tallest building in the world - the Burj Khalifa skyscraper (828 meters).
The tower, estimated at one billion dollars, was to be completed this year after four years of construction for the international exhibition Expo 2020 in October. Emar Propetris had previously reported that the company's head, Mohamed Alabbar, had lost his salary and that other employees' salaries had been halved due to the pandemic.
The high-rise was designed by Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava. It should be an elegant reinforced concrete TV tower with a round cross-section of variable area and a long pointed spire. Externally, it should look like an Islamic minaret, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, a lily bud and a mast with cables. At the top it will have an oval thickness, underneath it from a height of 700 m will be stretched to the ground supporting "skirt" of pre-stressed steel cables - the longest ever used in construction.
The structure will include restaurants, stores, hotel, luxury apartments, a conference room and 10 viewing platforms with gardens, which will remind of the ancient wonder of the world - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Some of the observation decks will be open and rotating. Less than 50% of the height of the tower (primarily 20 floors inside the oval "bud") will be intended for use by people, and the rest of the floors will be technical, so this building will not be considered a skyscraper, although in total it will be about 210 levels. But it may become the highest free-standing construction in the world.
I think its possible.