In the course of a ten-month invited competition Mark Foster Gage Architects, using tools ranging from artificial intelligence to 3D fractal software, re-invented the design languages of the ancient Nabatean civilization located on the Arabian Peninsula to propose the first Saudi resort in the modern era that would be open for international tourists.
Isolated in a vast desert, with little infrastructure and virtually no visitors, lie the ancient ruins of Mada'in Saleh, and the site for the project.With five-hundred pages and over 1,500 images this is a book that documents the design process of this project, complete with all of its ideas, misdirections, failures, restarts, breakthroughs, and everything in-between. Of interest to architects and non-architects alike, this book heralds a new generation of creative techniques and design technologies that promise to redefine how we think of the past, present and future of the built environment in the 21st century and beyond. With contributions by: Karel Klein, David Ruy, Mitch McEwen, Amina Blacksher, Ferda Kolatan, Tom Wiscombe, Ellie Abrons, Adam Fure, Michael Young, Jimenez Lai, Kristy Balliet, Elena Manferdini, Florencia Pita