Saudi Arabia is Building a Two-Kilometer Skyscraper (Because Everything Else is Going Well)

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[bioLarzen]

Newsflash 2026: The Line has once again been scaled back - from now on the project is referred to as "the Dot".

[patricioiasielski]

-What happened to the one kilometer high tower?
-We've replaced it with the two kilometers tower.
-What if it fails too?
-We build a 3km tower.

[ReubenAStern]

Saudi Arabia will be a very interesting post apocalyptic desert. Imagine searching the grand ruins wondering how such a great nation could fall... then you slowly realize most of it was just bravado.

[zzuse]

The Burj Kalifa has not (yet) connected to the sewer (waste is trucked out). Imagine making one twice as high. Going to be fun.

[claycassin]

"Where's a safe place to build it, since it is 2 kilometers tall?"
"By the airport".

[geneharrogate]

The Saudis are like giving a nine year old whos never been told 'no' and open chequebook.

[bguzewi]

Oh, another megaproject they’ll never finish? No way!

[sadguru]

Wow what a view from top of the 2 km high tower all around sand sand and more sand !

[markusgorelli]

I worked at a 20 floor office building with 4 elevators. "Travelling" at peak time in the morning when everyone is trying to get to the office, lunch time and the afternoon when everyone is leaving are headaches. And because there were vips working in there, it was often the case that one of the elevators was on "reserve" to act like a private elevator leaving only 3. Then over time, it was common for one of the elevators to be down for repair. It was usually faster to walk downstairs in the afternoon instead of being in a crowded elevator stopping at every floor.

To make it worse, the elevator was supposed to have a newfangled system so that when it was full, it was supposed to ignore pleas for it to stop and head straight to the ground floor to empty its load. We could never figure out how to tip it just right. We either had too many people - in which case the doors wouldn't close, or not enough so it would continue to stop at every floor on the way down.

We hated people on the 2nd floor on the afternoon. And they knew it by the expression on our faces too. Use the steps dammit!

[TommyCrosby]

With that size, it will require it's own poop train instead of truck lines.

[snowysnowyriver]

Fire Chief O'Halloran (Steve McQueen): "You know, one of these days, you're gonna kill 10, 000 in one of these firetraps, and I'm gonna keep eating smoke and bringing out bodies until somebody asks us how to build them.". Towering Inferno.

[MobilMobil-kvke]

Monuments to Hubris

Back when the Sears Tower was conceived, Sears purchased a city block in downtown Chicago and gave the architects a requirement for the amount of floor space needed to accommodate all the administrative functions of Sears. Form follows function.

These new projects seem to be pen-is extensions.

[darklordofsword]

Saudi Arabia's architecture projects are the "this is fine" dog on fire meme in real life.

[Alex-mwuu]

The Saudis start megaprojects like I start remodeling projects around my house.

[lorenzoblum]

Megalomania is a common denominator shared by all dictators.

[lightagainstdarkness]

basic human rights: x
building a 2 km skyscraper: yes

[DAH]

Ah, yes, put it near the airport. Pilots love an obstacle course.

[PaulGuy]

The problem with these supertowers is that at a certain point, they stop being practical. It takes too long to move people around, it's more expensive than two towers half the height, and the safety factors get far more difficult to manage the higher it goes. Other nations and businesses figured this out decades ago, it's why things in the US rarely exceeded 1000 feet. The only purpose they serve is bragging rights for the owners, the host location, and the tenants.

[boomsheep]

Remind me again how well the rest of the Saudi mega projects are going.

[eleghari]

I believe MBS is going for the "Dumbest Ruler in History" award...