We end our History of Cities series with a monumental tower in Saudi Arabia that, when finished in 2018, will become the world’s first kilometre-high skyscraper. So what does it say about the future of our cities?
The ever-taller story of modern skyscrapers is due to reach a new milestone in 2018 – or rather, kilometre-stone. Upon completion, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah will rise at least 1,000 metres into the Saudi Arabian sky (its final height is still unconfirmed), thus stealing the coveted crown of world’s tallest building from Dubai’s 828m-tall Burj Khalifa.
The Kingdom Tower aims, in the process, to become the ultimate trophy building; a technical tour-de-force courtesy of its revolutionary structural engineering, state-of-the-art heat-shunning glass, and lifts that use carbon fibre to go higher than ever before. The project’s lead architect, Adrian Smith, says the new tower will be “a gateway, a marker and a symbol for Saudi Arabia”.
Currently the $1.2bn Kingdom Tower is an isolated, 15-storey hulk of concrete in the desert beside the Red Sea
Related: The world's first skyscraper: a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 9
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