The Mukaab is the next largest building in the world and will be part of the legacy of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Mohammad bin Salman, who is at the head of a powerful public investment fund, is leading his country to one of the largest real estate expansions on the world scene that will be the first immersive and experiential destination in the world.
First was the announcement of the construction of The Line, a new city in the middle of the desert with a length of 170 km long and 200 meters wide that represents the most revolutionary project at an architectural level in the urban plan since the construction of Brasilia in the middle of the last century.
Now the government of Saudi Arabia has announced the construction of the world’s largest building, the Mukaab, a 400 x 400 x 400 cube in Ryad and covering an area of 19 km2 which will accommodate 100,000 residential units, 9,000 rooms of hotel, 980,000 m2 of stores and 1.4 million m2 of offices. To give us an idea, the Mukaab is big enough to contain 20 Empire State Buildings.
Both The Line and The Mukaab are part of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan, which aims to diversify the country’s economy to reduce its dependence on oil. The Mukaab will be finished in 2030 and is inspired by the Nadir style. The façade is composed of overlapping triangles made of brick, stone, and wood that give the homes privacy and control the hot desert climate.
Mukaab will be a technological and luxury wonder that will include the best brands of hotels, shops and restaurants in the world. It will feature a wide range of cultural and entertainment facilities, as well as a technology-focused university, theaters and museums.
But the project has not been to everyone’s taste, the Mukaab bears an obvious resemblance to the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest building, and this has provoked angry protests from the most orthodox groups in the practice of Islam in the Arab world.
