Iraq might not be a country you'd expect to see a modern superstructure to rival Dubai’s Burj Khalifa or Shanghai’s World Financial Center, but that’s just what plans to build in the oil-rich city of Basra.
Despite intense conflict with Daesh (ISIS) raging throughout many Iraqi provinces, British-Iraqi architecture firm AMBS has unveiled plans for a 1,152 meter-high building which—if completed—will become the world’s tallest.
The building is called “The Bride of the Gulf," after a nickname for Basra, and is projected to have 230 stories. According to AMBS it will contain malls, hotels, apartments and even its own transport systems, clinics and schools. It is set to be a fully functioning, 24-hour vertical city compiled of four interlinked towers with a vast canopy, called “The Veil,” shading a public area at the base.
Buildings of this scale tend to be seen as symbols of wealth and power, which is why this plan might appear odd to those who think of Basra as a conflict zone. But the city is undergoing rapid development, with a brand new sports center recently opened and more building plans in the works, reports the Guardian. It is also reportedly quite safe and relatively peaceful.
Basra was the target of former president Saddam Hussein’s campaign against Iraq’s Shia population, and was pummeled during the 2003 Iraq war. But the city has historically been seen as a gem in the region, with many believing that it is located on the same spot at the Garden of Eden.
For now, though, the completion of the building remains uncertain—in fact, it doesn’t even have an exact proposed construction site.
