The project which broke ground in 2004 has reached 600 of its proposed 1,352 feet and is calculated to be on track for its 2009 topout and 2010 opening. The tower is to be a significant landmark in the skyline of Kuwait city and upon completion will become one of the top 25 tallest buildings in the world.I had seen this monstrosity on youtube but had no idea SOM was responsible for the design. Yes, as someone in the architectural field I must admit that it is quite an extraordinary building and underscores just how far we've come in terms of building technology but I must ask; does Kuwait really need this 950 million dollar tower which, if the construction process has been any similar to projects of identical typology, must have already gone over budget by now?
75,900 sq feet of its entire 1,067,220 sq feet is to be retail space with an integrated theater complex to boost commercial output and become a gravitational niche but what percentage of Kuwait's population would be able to shop here?
I know the original plan was to define Kuwait city's skyline, but this tower stands so far out of its surroundings, it seems to be more of a "site intervention" than a component of the entire site.
I think SOM has put together a great building design but have ignored some urban and economical issues. Does anyone share this view point?
Images provided by flickr.com
2 comments:
I agree,they not only ignored economical, urban, but also site related isues. I believe a building has to feed from the elements found in its site and in this particular case the building seems to limit itself just to be an "elegant modern sculpture" that might as well be place in any big city of the world, due to is lack to relation to its suroundings....
(other images came across can be found here:http://www.e-architect.co.uk/kuwait/al_hamra_firdous_tower.htm)
Good point. The building looks like it could be at home anywhere else in the modern world.
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