Norman Foster has temporarily halted his work with an advisory board overseeing the planning of NEOM, a $500bn cross-border, mega-city project located in the far north-west of Saudi Arabia it will be constructed in Tabuk. It includes marine land located within the Egyptian and Jordanian borders.
Image courtesy of Neom
Why is Norman Foster stepping away from NEOM?
One of 18 ‘global experts’ participating in the advisory board, which also includes former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick and Italian architect MIT professor Carlo Ratti, Norman Foster told the Architects Journal that he is now stepping away from the project. The released statement read: “Earlier [last week] Lord Norman Foster wrote to the head of the NEOM advisory board, stating that, while the situation remains unclear, he has suspended his activities in respect of the board.”
A spokesperson for Ratti further confirmed that “the board [was] not currently working”, and that “both Carlo and our team are gravely concerned about the Khashoggi case, and are waiting for the results of the US investigation to evaluate the best course of action”.
Image Courtesy of Neom
The Axes of The NEOM Project:
Other members of the board are also stepping back, such as Ernest Moniz, the former US Secretary of Energy under US President Barack Obama, who has stated similar reasons. NEOM is one of Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious projects, KSA wishes to make a business and technological beacon out of NEOM which will be concentrating on nine axes: Biotechnology, Food, Entertainment, Media, Advanced Manufacturing, Mobility, Technological and Digital Sciences, Energy and Water, and ‘Living as NEOM’s Foundation’. The first phase aims to be completed by 2025.
