There will soon be a new tower called Oblisco Capitale in Egypt’s proposed New Capital, located 31 miles (50 km) east of Cairo. At a height of 3,280 feet (1,000 meters), the Oblisco Capitale will eclipse Dubai’s Burj Khalifa as the world’s highest structure. The building looks like a pharaonic obelisk, and it even has a water canal that looks like the Nile River. The Oblisco Capitale will be situated on the New Administrative Capital’s Central Ring Road. The ultra-tall skyscraper will primarily be used as an apartment complex. Hotels, malls, movie theaters, community centers, office buildings, hospitals, and other medical facilities are also to be included. There will be 165 stories in the Oblisco Capitale. The projected finish date for the structure is 2030.
Oblisco Capitale’s Construction Cost and Funding
The Gulf is not the only place where the sprint to the top is being run. Japan’s “Sky Mile Tower” plan includes an enormous, earthquake-proof skyscraper of up to 421 stories and 5,580 feet (1.7 km) in height, with enough room for up to 55,000 people. Egypt is also engaged; a new “capital” is being constructed 31 miles east of Cairo. There is a proposal to build a kilometer-tall “Oblisco Capitale” there.
Once finished, the Oblisco Capitale Tower will offer a panoramic view of the new capital city, which is expected to have a 270 mi2 (700 km2) land area and be home to 6 million people.
The construction of the Oblisco Capitale was first announced in 2018. However, the plan for the project dates back a few years. The building is a central part of the Egypt Vision 2030 development project, which was first initiated in 2016.
The Oblisco Capitale, costing an estimated $3.2 billion, will be funded by debt from the People’s Republic of China to Egypt. Though this amount of debt is only one percent of Egypt’s total GDP. The start of construction is still scheduled for 2024.
Oblisco Capitale’s Design
Obelisks were known as tekhen in ancient Egypt, but their Greek term, obeliskos (“little skewer”), is what is commonly used today. The Egyptian designers were inspired by the works of one of history’s greatest builders, their forebears, when creating the Oblisco Capitale. The Oblisco Capitale took its dimensions from those of an ancient Egyptian obelisk. These proportions are meant to represent numerical perfection and solidity in construction.
IDIA, an Egyptian architecture company, was responsible for the Oblisco Capitale’s design. The tower’s design draws from both the Pharaonic and Art Deco eras for its aesthetic. Thus, the skyscraper will be reminiscent of the era of the pharaohs, and Art Deco was the preeminent aesthetic movement of the 1920s and 1930s, denoting a focus on geometric forms, powerful palettes, and exact detailing.
The tower itself is split into six sections. The tower’s base includes a platform with ballrooms, meeting spaces, fine dining places, and a shopping center. There is a separate entryway for each area, and the interior is gilded and supported by elaborately carved marble columns.
The giant structure will support air vents. Those Art Deco-style louvers in the building will move in and out with the sun’s path throughout the day to keep the interior cooler.
The motif on the outside of the Oblisco Capitale is inspired by the Egyptian Lotus (Nymphaea lotus) pattern, which was popular during the time of the Pharaohs. This time period began around 3000 BC and lasted until 323 BC, when Egypt was subjugated by Alexander the Great. The lotus flower is a perennial that has thrived in the Nile Delta for thousands of years and is believed to have played a significant part in ancient Egyptian culture.
Although not as tall as the Tokyo Tower of Babel or the X-Seed 4000, the Oblisco Capitale is a design idea that reaches for the heavens.
Rivaling to be the World’s Tallest Building
The Oblisco Capitale is a mixed-use development with residential, commercial, recreational, retail, and sports complexes. The skyscraper will have 165 floors with a total floor area of 13,500,000 ft2 (1.25 km2 or 1,250,000 m2). The building has a relatively smaller floor area compared to ultra-tall structures at similar heights. This includes the Sky City 1000 at 3 mi2 (8 km2). This is probably because Sky City 1000 was designed to be a living metropolis.
If constructed, the Oblisco Capitale will be the world’s tallest building. It is currently rivaling other “soon-to-be tallest buildings,” such as the Azerbaijan Tower. However, considering the recent developments, the Oblisco Capitale has a better chance of being completed anytime soon. If built, this 1-km-high structure will tower over the Burj Khalifa, which is at 2,723 feet (830 m). In the West, it will be almost twice as tall as the One World Trade Center at 1,776 feet (541 m).
When Will Oblisco Capitale Be Constructed?
Founded in 1969, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) currently considers the Oblisco Capitale Tower to be nothing more than a “concept.” The tower is slated to reach a height of 3,280 feet, or 1 kilometer, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2024 in the new capital city of Egypt.
The new capital city, which still remains unnamed, is already in development and is expected to accommodate 6 million people in the future. However, it remains to be seen whether the Oblisco Capitale will actually be built and eventually surpass the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building by 2030.
With 30% of Egyptians still living below the poverty line, are you optimistic that the Egyptians will be able to achieve their goals? It remains to be seen what the future holds for the Oblisco Capitale, and only time will reveal its fate. The project is developed by the El Nasr Housing and Development company.
Oblisco Capitale at a Glance
What is Oblisco Capitale?
Oblisco Capitale is a proposed 1,000-meter tall skyscraper that is set to be built in Egypt’s New Capital, which is located 31 miles (50 km) east of Cairo. The building will be used as an apartment complex, as well as for hotels, malls, movie theaters, community centers, office buildings, hospitals, and other medical facilities.
When will Oblisco Capitale be constructed?
The construction of Oblisco Capitale is scheduled to begin in 2024, with a projected finish date of 2030.
How will Oblisco Capitale be funded?
Oblisco Capitale is estimated to cost $3.2 billion, and the project will be funded by debt from the People’s Republic of China to Egypt. The amount of debt is only one percent of Egypt’s total GDP.
References
- Renders: Oblisco Capitale – YouTube – IDIA Design
- Oblisco Capitale – IDIA official website
