What do Philadelphia City Hall, the Empire State Building, and the Burj Khalifa have in common? They’ve all held the title of the world’s tallest skyscraper. And eventually Jeddah Tower, a neo-futuristic skyscraper planned in Saudi Arabia, will join the ranks among these iconic structures.
Designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the structure will stand at 3,281 feet tall when completed in the next four to five years, nearly 11 times the height of the Statue of Liberty. “The design for Jeddah Tower is rooted in the symbolism of Saudi Arabia while looking toward the future by being technologically expressive,” explain Smith and Gill in a joint statement to AD. “Its slender, subtly asymmetrical massing evokes the new growth of palm fronds shooting upward from the land—a symbol of new life heralding future growth for the kingdom.”
Here, AD covers everything you need to know about the future world-record holder.
Where will Jeddah Tower be located?
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Jeddah Tower will be located in the city from which it gets its name, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A port area, the city borders the Red Sea and is the second-most populated in the Middle Eastern country. When complete, the skyscraper will join other architectural marvels in Jeddah, such as the Penang Floating Mosque and Al Balad, the town’s historic center featuring homes from coral.
What will Jeddah Tower look like?
The building is designed in a neo-futuristic style, an avant-garde aesthetic often underpinned by the use of world-class technology and a rethinking of both the form and function of developments. Renderings show a singular, slender tower, which subtly tapers towards its apex. As Smith and Gill explain, the shape is inspired by new palm fronds, which are abundant in Saudi Arabia.
Though the design is meant to honor its Saudi Arabian origins, it also represent the pinnacle of super-tall design and the technological evolution that has allowed such monumental design to become a reality. “The geometry of the tower starting at the base as a single tripod form then gradually separating at the spire, is tied to the wind performance characteristics of the tower—an analogy of new growth fused with technology,” the pair add.
When will Jeddah Tower be completed?
Jeddah Tower’s construction started back in 2013 but was paused in 2018. Its contractor, the Binladin Group, was taken off the project following the the 2017–2019 Saudi Arabian purge when its president, Bakr bin Laden, half-brother to Osama Bin Laden, was arrested. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in further delays; though in September 2023 Dezeen reported that construction had restarted.