PLANS for a kilometre-tall skyscraper in Kuwait have been hatched by a team of London-based architects.
The tower would form the centrepiece of Kuwait’s Madinat al Hareer, or ‘City of Silk’, which is estimated to cost up to US $150 billion and take 25 years to build.
At 1001 metres, the 250-storey tower would be almost twice the size of the world’s tallest building — Taipei 101 in Taiwan.And it would also eclipse the Burj Dubai, which is expected to reach 700 m-plus by the time it is finished in 2008.
Drawings for the structure have been devised by architects at Eric Kuhne and Associates. The firm was also behind the design of the BurJuman Centre and the Bluewater shopping centre, Europe’s largest retail complex in east London.
A spokesperson confirmed the plans although the designs are yet to be released.
The concept of the new city is based on a combination of Arabic philosophy, culture and politics and it is hoped that, when complete, it will make Kuwait an attractive bidder for the Olympic Games.
Engineering experts have warned that a building of such scale would pose enormous challenges for its designers, with the main issues being moving people up and down efficiently and the effects of wind on the structure.
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