This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower - The Pointless Hubris Of A Decadent Tyranny
Submitted by James H. Kunstler, via Contra Corner blog,
Behold the proposed new Kingdom Tower for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — at one full kilometer in height, about twice the size of New York’s new Freedom Tower.
The Kingdom Tower comprises 252 floors of mixed market apartments, hotel rooms, and offices. It is an axiom that imperial societies build their greatest monuments just before they collapse, so consider this a portent for the oil empire of Saudi Arabia. There will always be an Arabia — well something will occupy that desolate region — but it may not be the private domain of the Saud clan much longer, especially as war breaks out across the Middle East and Persia.
This will give you some idea of the scale. A year ago I went on on a junket to Dubai (a panel to discuss the development of a proposed a new urban quarter). The opening night cocktail party was held at the top of the Burj Khalifa. I took a cab to the base of the damn thing, looked up at the top, and almost blew chunks. Well, I guess some people enjoy being trapped 2500 feet up in the air.
Considering the hostilities currently ramping up in that part of the world, I have just one design suggestion to make (below) that might make explicit the true destiny of the Kingdom Tower. After all, that is a technique pioneered by Saudis.
- 115651 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -





All this with the price of oil in the crapper? I suppose this is a way to rid themselves of some American Green Fiat. Oil for Fiat was a great business model for decades, I suspect that Oil for Fiat is coming near to it's end as the global energy model. You can't run your car on fiat, try stuffing it down the tank! But you can run just about anything on oil. One critical commodity being given away for Green Fiat backed by the full faith and credit of a nation 13 trillion dollars in debt and growing? When does that model break down I wonder?
are not all these projects blackmail protection racket payments.
hidden as infa structure
or fake military billion dollar purchase.
uk,israel and pentagon tribute payment.
the house of saud is an old jewish tribe who have destroyed most of the ancient relics of the country.
they are the bag money men for the talmudick yanky and city of london pirates.
like libya epic water projects when all the contracts are done and fully paid and the rabbi bloated on profits monies made
it will be time to send in john wayne green berets to deplete uranium pull the whole place silverstein style
it is written in the tora bora that history must be at zero
for odead already operation yinon baby
baby
goy already
Once you go aboe say 85 floors, it is all hubris.
Imagine the logistics of launching the Bismarck from 2,000 feet or making a drinking fountain work from the 200th floor.
And making a practical elevator system becomes a nightmare.
And mechanical, plumbing and.electrical.
lots of pumps, and heat e,changers, and there would need to to be several chiller plants set on various levels along with life safety water tanks to support the sprinklers.
i doubt this will happen.
build it and they will come
Just in time for Jehovah's next visit:
Genesis 11:3-5 And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. (4) And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (5) And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
he's long overdue for a visit.
he's not been paying attention to the state his chosen ones have manipulated his world.
lmao
Unless he purposely tempted his anointed tribes into the pits of Dimona, there the horny, shofar to blow (but not to swallow) signaling the last days with not only a monthly charge for savings deposits but a charge for all withdrawals as well.
Smith's Ozymandias
In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows:—
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
"The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
"The wonders of my hand."— The City's gone,—
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.
We wonder,—and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.
bum bum
they call him bum bum
that rabbi he got sum sauce
When Israel Is Mightyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSy6ENVAJlY
Not only did the Jews invent sign language, but hair smoothing language as well. Good on the Jews.
+1 for the humor bid. Tony that is a great link. In a way its actually pro-Semetism.
maybe we can hire the same group to punch a couple of holes in it with a couple of 747's
Been up the Taipei 101... saw the curvature of the earth.. was impressed. Now all these vanity projects bulding oasis in the desert strikes me as hubris just like cali..sooner or later the desert will reclaim its lands regardless of how much air con you have.
You did not see the curvature of the earth because the earth is not curved the way we have been programmed to believe.
when your up at that altitute...there is a curve ..deal with it..or if you don't have a passport..trust those who've walked where you have not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon
The curvature is the reciprocal of the curvature angular radius in radians. A curvature of 1 appears as a circle of an angular radius of 45° corresponding to an altitude of approximately 2640 km above the Earth's surface. At an altitude of 10 km (33,000 ft, the typical cruising altitude of an airliner) the mathematical curvature of the horizon is about 0.056, the same curvature of the rim of circle with a radius of 10 m that is viewed from 56 cm. However, the apparent curvature is less than that due to refraction of light in the atmosphere and because the horizon is often masked by high cloud layers that reduce the altitude above the visual surface. The Horizon curves by: sqrt(radius^2 + distance^2)-radius, equivalent to distance^2/R*2. At 100 km, it descends 784m.
Whatever..impressed the fk out of me..you probably never left 'Merica WTF'D you know Fk wit Tard?
Never been anywhere.. never learnt anything and impossible to teach because of your own self righteousness ..go flounder in your own smugness..
If you do make out there the local night market is great.. there's n old guy with a cart sells some of the best squid I've ever eaten..shared his beer with me while my squid cooked too ...respect.
Maybe the previous poster to which you responded is merely manifesting the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
.
I'm curious. Assuming you have been able to program yourself with a different interpretation of the Earth, do you have any links you're able to provide, or books you can recommend?
admiral bird told the truth on his death bed
fbi was taking notes like tesla before
flat earth suckers
keep mocking
fuckers
Ok, that's a weird one. Didn't he fly into a giant hole at the North Pole and find that there is another world, with another people inside?? I guess he thought no one would follow up by checking. Either that or someone spiked his walrus meat with LSD.
Assume what you will. I will not provide any links as the rabbit holes are long, hard, and full of twists and turns and dead-ends. In order to open your mind and attain the critical thinking skills necessary to understand info like this, you must start with things that are easier to convince yourself of. Your mind will not want to let go of the programming/brainwashing that your have suffered your whole life from family, friends, pastors/priests/rabbis, teachers, media, etc. Your whole life has been a lie. Ponder that for a while and then you're ready to move on.
edit: if you're truly ready and open minded enough to delve into this subject, markksargent on youtube has some interesting things. Take it at face value though. I'm only saying he is making sense to me at this time.
And that's why the greeks did not observe the hulls of ships disappearing before the masts did 2500 years ago.
K, whatever, because you've talked to those Greeks. How bout a link or some verifiable research you fool? What, did you read that in a book or did some fucking idiot on tv tell you that? Oh yeah, and this was with the naked eye, huh? You spout shit with nothing to reference.
.
These skyscrapers in the arab middle east represent penis envy and are signaling the downfall of islam. A last breath if you will.
Collapse and chaos has started. It will soon engulf the Saudis. Islam will consume and destroy itself. Shia vs sunni.
Fiscal enema- what else do you expect from a religion about a sexually insecure man who has to cover up his women so other men don't rape them?
Pretty sure it's anti-Semitic to talk about Orthodox Jews that way.
"These skyscrapers in the arab middle east represent penis envy and are signaling the downfall of islam. A last breath if you will."
Based upon the well documented interest some Muslim men have sexually in little Muslim boys, I doubt such envy will go away any time soon.
They took down the WTCs and put that up. They shouldn't have done that.
You people are sad. I think this is an engineering achievement. Say something nice at least.
And USA is the decadant tyrany, in Saudi Arabia people just have different values, whether you like it or not. In USA, there are no values, as a means to keep people separated, disunited and driven into individualistic consumerism as means to make up for the lack of real community.
" I think this is an engineering achievement."
So was the Tower of Babel , apparently.
I prefer Gaddafis proposed engineering achievement. An irrigation system to turn Libya into a tropical paradise on the Mediterranean. Far more practical and rooted in the benefit of the Libyan citizenry.
So who will the Saudis hire? They sure don't have the ability to do this by themselves.
Kind of sad really when you think about it. Wanting to show the world their ability but having to get someoen else to do it.
What's wrong with you? We have secular-humanist values that can leap the tallest societal anchors, and grind them into dust in a mere few years.
Are you certain that what ails us is "individualistic consumerism?" Had you asserted mass herded consumerism, I'd been more inclined to agree.
As fucked up as the U.S. is, I'll take its values over those of SA any day. Yeah, we shoot unarmed hoods sometimes, but so far no stonings or beheadings for being raped. And I don't have to wipe my ass with my left hand, but am free to do so if I'd like.
Wonder what they thought about BJ Clintoon signing treaties with his left hand. Did they think that meant the document was shitty?
And USA is the decadant tyrany, in Saudi Arabia people just have different values, whether you like it or not. In USA, there are no values
The two countries are joined at the hip, politically, financially, militarily.
Your 'distinctions' are nonsensical.
Looks like they'll be safe from Bleeders/Biters/Walkers/Zombies. Or anyone else who is unclean, unfunded, unclear or unworthy.
Need to get a lot of popcorn for seeing a documentary on power outages in mega towers.
They're trying to save the price of an airline ticket. Why fly to the US when you have a nice, tall, juicy target right in your back yard?
Save the potential terrorists a little cash. Free explosive vest with every McDonalds Big Mac, only on the 156th floor!
Take the elevator to the 220th floor and visit the 72 virgins up in the clouds before you die !
Allah is great !
There's a King David Tower in the works... To rise to the very heavens on a shiny Stairway To Heaven.
A carbon nanotubes Elevator, that connects to an orbiting Space Station.
A sufficiently advanced technology can appear as Magic or as Divine to simple people and tribes.
The Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky first introduced the concept of the space elevator in 1895 ,inspired by the building of the Eiffel Tower . His plan was to build a tower from the ground up to 35,790 kilometers, the height of the geostationary orbit t
Tallest since Lehman.
You didn't build that.
Tom Cruise got his work cut out for him in MI4
They just need to spend all those petro-dollar somewhere...
In any case this is bullish (and I don't even count about all those broken windows after an accidental 747 crash...)
It is not about how big is it, its about where you stick it.
That's what she said!
Can anyone help me with a browsing issue.
I browse ZH by clicking on New Comments that interest me.
Half the time I get to the actual comment.
The other half , I get the thread and the correct number of the comment, but it goes only to the thread.
Is this a lousy internet speed, connection , something . . .?
<-- Sign of the oncoming porkopalypse
<-- Too many ads on ZH
NoScript, adblock are your friends
I have no advertisements ; I run Mac.
Anything else?
Whether you're running OS X or not isn't the issue. Install HTTPS Everywhere, NoScript, Privacy Badger and AdBlock Edge (assuming you're not using Safari), then restart your browser.
I've seen these issues appearing in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox across different operating systems recently on different sites. I think it's a combination of updated JS scripts (most sites link to some version of JScript, which allows the same issue to appear in lots of places) and updated rendering engines in the browsers.
I'm using Chrome but it also happens in Safari, and I assumed that Firefox would be the same.
Thanks for the advice.
.
Folks go because for the mountain breeze, friendly coons
Nice building............in the WRONG place.
USA, proud to be part of the Saudi group of companies.
The Saudi Tower is not pointless.
Any idiot can plainly see the point on that tower!
https://mises.org/library/skyscrapers-and-business-cycles#figure1
Mises org. Skyscrapers and business cycles
very interesting analysis!
Kingdom Tower or King-Dumb Tower.
You decide.
Will the elevators accommodate camels?
Can you even stand on the top floor of that thing without getting nauseous? the thing (if it can even support itself structurally) would probably swing 5~30 feet in any direction at the top floor, furniture would probably be sliding into windows up there lol . . . nevermind people, what kind of stabilization system will it have?
You probably need some sort of suspension system, and I would wager a lot of the structure has to be constructed with lighter weight alternatives to steel (titanium or something?)
and what kind of fire escape plan? lol parachutes? ejection seats?
I hope its completed, just for the hell of seeing it fall apart under its own weight and laughing.
If that thing is built its going to be considered one of the great wonders of the world, its quite literally the "Titanic" of buildings. . . and will probably be doomed to the same fate...
Honestly I don't think such a tower is possible or cost effective given standard materials, a large portion of it would have to be made from Titanium or some kind of composite material, a carbon fiber building or something. . . the costs would be exponentially larger than a standard building of 2/3rds the hight, the base is just not wide enough.
I worked on the 95th floor of WTC2 in the early 80's. We set up a pendulum on a windy day. We estimated that the building was precessing 12 feet. Water would swish in the toilets. Drawers of lightly loaded file cabinets would move in and out. Some would go home claiming motion sickness.
How the heck is it going to meet an iceberg in the middle of the desert?
I didnt read all the posts, so if I am repeating, forgive me. But there is a bible story about the tower of babel... It did not end well.
Would take some wicked Jewish lightening to spruce that thing up!
Is desert sand dune real estate is so scarce and precious, the only alternative is to go UP?
Where you when they built that ladder to heaven?
Did it make you feel like crying?
Or did you think it was kind of gay?
major stupid---you can take a car trip up to Wolf Creek Pass and be more than twice as high up as that POS building-- or hang your feet off Glacier Point in Yosemite Park---
It's Saudi Arabia, they'll either blow it up or throw a towel over it in short order.
Weeee, weeeee. A new amusement park ride on 91st floor.
Crazy winds throw window cleaners for a scary swing ride on 91st floor
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/crazy-winds-throw-window-cleaners-for-a-scary-...
Hubris, Decadent, & Tyranny in one headline. Nice job, Tyler. Coulda had the superfecta if you added 'since lehman'.
I'll come and fuck up your parade by declaring Bear Sterns. Tag, your it.
Just simple-assed rank propaganda, the tally to date has Saudi Arabia with only one of the top 50 tallest building:
7 in the US
14 in Dubai
1 Saudi Arabia
17 PRC
http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/buildings
If they continue to build skyscrapers higher, rental oxygen concentrators will be bullish for the medical industry.
/sarc
Say this like this and governments will tax their citizens more to provide free oxygen for people living in Denver, Santa Fe, SLC, Reno, and South American and East African capitals due to "fairness".
It needs a burka.
Already endorsed by Obama's Muslim Brotherhood.
Good times in Saudi Arabia's east right now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEZm7pXEJmQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S3g0a9ZdT0
This is nothing compared to Hillary's gold plated strap-on.
Two hundred fifty - two floors of punchlist.....have fun.....
Oil is obviously mispriced.
Let me guess: After it's completed, 19 terrorists from the US will fly a Malaysian airlines 777 into the tower. Saudi Arabia will claim that Greece has weapons of mass destruction and will invade Russia as retaliation.
It will be Shiite terrorists from Iran, Yemen, Iraq or Syria, probably with a hijacked Saudi plane.
Up arrow for the Saudi Arabia invading Russia image.
So basically it's like saying "mine is bigger". And it's not difficult to see the symbolism in a long, thin obelisk. Sigh. Have we really not progressed beyond this?
no. next question?
Whatever, mine's bigger.
that's about how big i get when fully erect
What's funny is it's even prophesied in Islamic texts, towering buildings that return to sand.
It’s not like space is so limited there they have no where to build but up.
They should call it the height of absurdity.
Ozymandias.
Man's madness shows no limits but the ultimate madness will be revealed with proposals to "rebuild" evrything bigger, grander, stronger ... after the collapse of the present follies, when all debt will be expunged and we can start anew.
Good for the Saudis.
What's the point of having it if you can't let people know "Not only do we have it, but that we got so much of it that we can piss it away in such a fabulously unnecessary manner."
Common sense is for common people. The .001% have a different system that only they can understand.
Jeddah is a dog. She's the bony macarony with the king crab legs the king crab legs the king crab legs. She's the lanky lama lady with the king crab legs. She's the Jeddah Jeddah Jeddah Jeddah dog.
What is the tallest building in Israel?
The tallest building in Israel is the Moshe Aviv tower at 771 feet.
It is not, however, the most interesting building in Israel.
That distinction might just go to the Israeli Supreme Court:
http://vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/sinister-sites-israel-supreme-c...
the tallest 'skyscraper' in the world would need to be submerged under water.
good idea!
No number of human sacrifices, nor the construction of any graven idols, regardless how grand, will benefit the controllers of this world.
It must anger them that in their lust to murder and corrupt us, so many slip through their wretched fingers... while they are doomed to remain and fester in their own hatred.
What a bunch of whiny, jaded liberals .... it's their money .... let them enjoy it .... habitat for humanity .... it may be a phallic symbol .... so what .... live and let live ?
It is compensation for failures in other aspects of life. Just like somebody needing to flash how wealthy/successful/popular they are. At the root of every superiority complex lays the fear of being inferior.
So you have these big shiny buildings and what do you see: sand all around you. All this shit about Dubai and these places with their big shiny buildings, palms shaped islands and shopping malls and shit don't impress me. It is all illusions of grandeur. They need to import most of their food and have armies of migrant workers do their shitty work. It would be far more impressive if instead of making these high buildings they would convert their deserts in fertile oasis producing food for themselves but they prefer to be lazy over being tired of a good day of work.
At least, unlike us, they were honest in naming it.
[we have the tower... when do we get the freedom?]
Cough (kiss asses)
Seriously though, what a bunch of kiss asses
I'll always prefer good horse riding on the Earth surface directly.
There is only one "thing" that Saudies fear most.
Answer: pussy....
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3021945/5-buildings-that-look-like-vaginas
There is only one "thing" that Saudies fear most.
Answer: pussy....
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3021945/5-buildings-that-look-like-vaginas
I worked with the Saudi Bin Laden Group for awhile, as many know it is a joint venture with US's Turner Construction. They pay salary 2-3 months late and then keep your passport when you try to quit your job, preventing you from leaving the country. Fortunately I did not work directly for them.
Well, Kunstlers article just seems like sour grapes and jealousy to me. Why build the Freedom Tower in NYC when it wasn't needed? Everybody should be free to build what ever they want, if they have the money or financing, and that has certainly been the case in the US. Oh, and one final point is that Jeddah is hardly desolate -- it is booming even with current oil prices. The author needs to get his head out of his ass.
Stupid waste of time, money and energy ... erecting a fucking tall piece of shit.
The Saudi's are as full of public masturbation as then next oligarchy.
perhaps thery can throw their Homomsexuals off the top?
Saudi Arabia's penis. What a woppa™.
Why? that is all...
they have 30.000 princes and eevryone has to be a billionaire.
I do not know how many princesses they have.
satanic morons need to be cut off from the only plant for desalination of seawater and the oil industry is done; the country as well.
go putin go, go alkaida go, go yemenites go.
and when it's done, yellen can squat on it and make it disappear
Freedom tower? That's funny.
Tower of Babel, anyone?
Good insight! Guess they have to do something with the billion$ we send them instead of developing US domestic oil production.
here in eurabia men with a complex problem usually drive mercedes benz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_%28psychology%29
guess what is the complex of native people of the UandAE