Big Bend and The Line: Two Seriously Ambitious Ideas

Construction Brothers

How far up do you own?
00:58 - Intro
We chat about the naming of winter storms and make some subtle alternative music allusions. Eddie shares about how to increase your perceived IQ.
03:30 - Bold projects
Today we’re talking about two really ambitious projects: Big Bend, which is not currently underway, and The Line, which is.
First, Big Bend: Eddie describes the shape of this unusual concept. The design was completed in 2017. The design seeks to sidestep the floor-area ratio limits of New York’s building code.
Eddie raises the interesting philosophical question of how far into the sky a building’s ownership reaches. If an arched building spans over another building… How does that work?
This leads to useful references to both the Bible and The Simpsons.
We discuss what could happen if the issues of upward ownership could be resolved and buildings could begin to weave around over one another.
We make a shout-out to Business Movers, one of our favorite podcasts.
15:50 - The Line
We shift our focus to an even more ambitious project that is underway in Saudi Arabia: The Line.
The Line is a mega city that aims to reach 110 miles long (170 km), 660 ft wide, and 1,600 ft tall.
The target population for this structure is 450,000 people by 2026, 2 million people by 2030, and 9 million people by 2045.
24:28 - Desalination, workforce, administrative issues
We discuss the logistical concerns and resource issues related with a project of this scale in a somewhat inhospitable environment.
The work crew for this project is currently right around 60,000. NEOM, the coordinating entity, claims that they’re investing heavily in safe, desirable work conditions. We explore the fact that the usual roadblocks disappear when a project is being sponsored by a monarchy and constructed in a remote location.
We discuss the possible peripheral benefits that might spring from this project even if it’s not ever completed.

We wrap up with a book recommendation: The Martian (the book rather than the movie). Track down the audiobook and listen to it while you work here on Earth.Links related to The Line:
-Neom’s official site
-A 30-minute Discovery Channel UK documentary
-Articles:
-DesignBoom The Line project update
-Critical Popular Mechanics article
-DesignBoom review of all Neom projects
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