Saudi Arabia

Siranna's eye-catching hexagonal design is meant to complement the rugged surrounding landscape

Architecture

Extraordinary hexagonal hotel planned for Saudi's Neom giga-project

It has been a crazy year for Saudi Arabian architecture, but the country isn't done surprising us yet. Plans have now been revealed for an unusual hexagonal hotel that will be nestled into the rugged desert landscape.

Epicon will feature two skyscrapers, the shorter of which will rise to a height of 225 m (roughly 740 ft), while the taller will reach 275 m (900 ft)

Architecture

Pair of spectacular skyscrapers to rise like a mirage in the Saudi desert

Another day, another spectacular-looking skyscraper project revealed for Saudi Arabia. Named Epicon, the development will be centered around two futuristic-looking towers that are meant to evoke a desert mirage.

The Jeddah Tower has already reached a height of roughly 60 floors but work had been halted for several years

Architecture

Work restarts on audacious kilometer-tall skyscraper

Following a delay of several years, Saudi Arabia has reportedly restarted work on its incredibly ambitious Jeddah Tower. The megatall skyscraper will be the new world's tallest manmade structure once complete and will reach over 1 km in height.

An ancient megastructure called a "desert kite" in Saudi Arabia, which is believed to have been used for hunting, is the subject of one of the oldest known blueprints in the world

Science

World's oldest known blueprints detail to-scale desert megastructures

It’s hard to construct a building without a plan, but when did humans first start doing that? Archeologists have discovered the oldest known blueprints, with a 9,000-year-old rock carving in Jordan depicting a to-scale plan for a nearby megastructure.

Bedayat was constructed on a 6,000-sq-m (roughly 645,000-sq-ft) helipad in Diriyah, Riyadh

Architecture

Saudi roots celebrated in spectacular fashion with 300-ton tent-like dome

To commemorate the origins of Saudi Arabia, its Ministry of Sport commissioned a state dinner to be held in a massive tent-like dome structure for just one night. It weighed over 300 tons and took a team of builders 13 days to build.

The Jeddah Central Museum will transform a former desalination plant on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast into a sprawling cultural destination that includes market places and art studios

Architecture

Former Red Sea desalination plant set to become one-of-a-kind museum

Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing a huge development push to help turn the country into a tourism hotspot. As part of this effort, Heatherwick Studio is transforming a former desalination plant on the Jeddah waterfront into a one-of-a-kind museum.

UK firm Atkins has been commissioned to help realize an ambitious plan to build a linear city in the Saudi Desert called the Line

Architecture

Ambitious 170-km-long Saudi skyscraper city gets construction go ahead

Imagine taking a population the size of New York and putting it into a 170-km-long skyscraper in the desert. An incredibly ambitious project named the Line is doing just that, and UK firm Atkins has been commissioned to help realize it.

The Mukaab will reach a height, width and length of 400 m (1,312 ft), forming a huge cuboid supertall skyscraper

Architecture

Huge cuboid skyscraper "big enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings"

An incredibly ambitious new cuboid skyscraper is planned for Riyadh that will reach a height of 400 m and host a twisting tower inside. According to Saudi Arabian authorities, its interior will be so big that it could hold 20 Empire State Buildings.

The Marine Life Institute will consist of glass-reinforced concrete panels that are molded and textured to resemble reef patterns

Architecture

Marine Life Institute forms oversized "coral reef" on the Red Sea coast

As part of an effort to turn Saudi Arabia into a world-leading tourist destination, work is underway on a striking marine center on the Red Sea coast that will be shaped like coral and feature interactive exhibits, including an artificial coral reef.

The Line would measure a total length of 170 km (105 miles), and be home to 9 million residents if realized

Architecture

The incredible plan for a 170-km-long skyscraper in the Saudi desert

Saudi Arabia has revealed plans for an architecture project so ambitious that it almost beggars belief. The Line project is envisioned as a 170-km-long skyscraper home to approximately 9 million people – or around the same as the population of NYC.

Triangular exit and entry portals maintain the illusion

Architecture

World's biggest walk-through kaleidoscope delivers psychedelic visuals

London company Stufish laid out a spectacularly trippy experience for visitors to this year's One Giant Leap technology conference in Saudi Arabia, in which visitors could walk through a colossal kaleidoscope tunnel, surrounded by wild LED visuals.

The Desert Rock hotel is part of the huge Red Sea Project development in Saudi Arabia that also includes works by Foster + Partners

Architecture

Luxury resort will sleep hotel guests inside an Arabian mountain

Work has begun on an ambitious hotel that will be part-built into a mountain. The rock that's excavated during the build process will be reused to create the luxury hotel suites, which will offer choice views of the stunning Arabian landscape.