International architecture studios including Adjaye Associates, Morphosis, Studio Fuksas and Coop Himmelb(l)au are reportedly working on plans for The Line at Neom.
Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion ‘land of the future’, will be 33 times the size of New York City. Officials have described it as “the world’s most ambitious project”.
The Line is a zero-carbon city that will vertically layer homes, workplaces, parks, pedestrian areas and schools within two mirrored facades stretching more than 170 km and rising 500 metres above sea level.
According to Architects’ Journal, 12 architecture studios are named as working on plans in The Line exhibition, which is currently on display in Riyadh.
These are Morphosis, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Tom Wiscombe Architecture, HOK, Oyler Wu Collaborative, Adjaye Associates, CHAP, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Delugan Meissl Associated Architects, Studio Fuksas, UNStudio and OMA.
However, representatives for OMA and UNStudio told Dezeen that the studios are not working on The Line but did take part in a design competition in the project’s early stages.
Neom’s first luxury island, Sindalah, is due to open in early 2024. The giga-project also includes Trojena, a mountain resort with a ski village, and Oxagon, an octagonal floating port city.
“If we are to solve the challenges of tomorrow, we must face up to them today, no matter how difficult they may seem,” Neom’s CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr said last month.
12 architecture studios working on plans
The project, he said, is “addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity by bringing together a community of the brightest minds committed to reimagining what a sustainable future will look like in 20 to 30 years, and building it today.”
He added: “We are redefining the future now. Neom is open for business.”
Saudi Arabia is creating various giga-projects and attractions as part the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) Vision 2030. Diriyah, a $50 billion development on the edge of Riyadh, was recently confirmed as the PIF’s fifth giga-project.
