Architecture of Mubarak al-Kabir Tower - Subiya

An artist's drawing of the proposed tower.

Built: 2007- 2032
Cost: KD43,430,000,000
Designed by: Kuhne and Associates
Type: Skyscraper
Stories: 250
Maximum height: 3,284 feet / 1,001 meters
Location: Madinat al Hareer
City: Subiya
State: Northern Kuwait

A gainst all probability, a proposal for the world's tallest building is moving slowly forward. The Mubarak al-Kabir Tower is envisioned as the centerpiece of a new development in Northern Kuwait's Subiya district called Madinat al-Hareer, or City of Silk. It gains this name from its symbolic position on the former silk road which linked the Middle East with the Orient.

Though the Mubarak al-Kabir Tower is not yet under construction, it threatens to eclipse the Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates as the world's tallest skyscraper. However, the Burj Dubai has one significant advantage: It actually exists in the real world. At this point the Kuwaiti tower is only on paper. Still, it is quickly gaining support from politicians and Kuwaiti leaders. By some reports the only thing standing in the way is a prohibition on foreigners owning land in Kuwait, which is expected to be remedied in time.

Still, though this tower may end up with the title of tallest skyscraper, it will still fall short of being the tallest structure on Earth. That title belongs to the Magnolia Tension-leg Platform, which is 4,698 feet tall. It doesn't have much of a view, though, since it is off the coast of Cameron, Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mubarak al-Kabir Tower is the latest superproject for the Middle East, which is using the first part of the 21st century as an opportunity to flex its economic muscle and emulate the skyscraper cities of the West. Forward-looking governments realize that the desert's natural resources are limited, and are plowing money from oil sales into new cities in an effort to diversity their economies.

> The City of Silk project is expected to have 700,000 residents when complete.
> This project will be linked to Kuwait City by a new bridge called the Jabir Al Kabir.
> May 27, 2006 - ITP Business reports that Atkins has been selected as the structural engineer on this project.

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