"The Arts Tower" is one of the prominent landmarks within the Sports Boulevard project at the Promenade destination in Riyadh, specifically at the intersection of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Road and Prince Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Awwal Road.

The design of the Arts Tower is centered around creating a unique experience that takes visitors on an ascending journey through multiple layers, offering a vertical panorama where light plays with color, and shadow converses with form. It is not merely an aesthetic sculpture, but an experience to be lived at every corner. The colors do not just appear; they shift and transform throughout the day. Gharem intended them to be alive, changing with the sun, the clouds, and the movement of passersby, as if playing a silent melody composed by the sunlight.

The total height of the tower is 83.5 meters, and at its base (level 0.00), its footprint stands 33 meters square. A total of 691 colored panels were installed to bring the tower’s vibrant facade to life.

Each slice of the tower resembles a musical piece. With light, the colors interact, some familiar, others completely new, only visible when two colors blend at a specific moment of the day. Here, light becomes an engineer, and color becomes a storyteller, narrating a tale of diversity, of difference, of the beauty of being unlike one another. Diversity is not merely a condition we live in, but a human value that contributes to the unity and harmony of societies.

Gharem drew inspiration from the spectrum of colors, from patterns we recognize from our old homes, and from the triangle, the simple yet powerful shape that unifies all motifs, as the triangle is a constant presence in our civilization. The goal was for people to feel that this tower belongs to them not because it resembles what they know, but because it makes them feel seen within it.

It was not an easy task. The wind spoke the language of nature and forced us to listen. We had to rethink the number and distribution of slices, not only for structural safety but so the tower could breathe. A design cannot be alive if it cannot adapt to its environment and surroundings. The wind taught me that no project should resist nature, but rather learn humility before it. Therefore, the number of slices was not just a technical decision, but a dialogue with the air, with life, with our limits as human beings. The wind became a partner in the design, and I learned from it to leave space between the slices, so the tower remains ever changing, never rigid.

Although the primary goal of the Sports Boulevard is to encourage residents to engage in various sports like running, cycling, and horse riding, the Arts Tower is not merely a visual project it is also an ethical one. It does not seek to dazzle, but rather to slow you down. It is not just an architectural structure, but an invitation to pause, to reflect, and to converse. It is a space that hosts events and encourages human interaction and community gathering, becoming a living communication zone that draws people together. The “Arts Tower” has become a creative compass within the Sports Boulevard, helping visitors orient themselves and forming a central meeting point thanks to the many paths that lead to it.

This achievement is deeply connected to Vision 2030, which has infused vitality and creativity into the social fabric as a whole. And as a member of this society, Gharem hopes that through this work, he has reflected the pride of his community a work that symbolizes the spirit of the era we live in, with all its cultural leaps and social transformations.

For Gharem, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, like the Arts Tower, constantly lifts our eyes upward, motivating us to leap from the familiar into the unexpected, pushing us to embrace the future with imaginative eyes.

“The contemporary scene in the Kingdom is witnessing a conscious shift toward diversifying the economy and investing in cultural infrastructure. The Arts Tower profoundly embodies this transformation. By repurposing a symbol of energy infrastructure and turning it into a beacon of artistic expression, Gharem highlights the evolving role of culture and art in Saudi Arabia’s development journey. This act shows that culture, just like energy, is a fundamental infrastructure worth investing in. It stands as living proof of the Kingdom’s commitment to nurturing its cultural landscape, making arts and creativity an inseparable part of its identity just as oil and energy were in the past.”

Nato Thompson, author and curator

The Design Consortium comprising Coen+Partners, TYPSA, and Eldorado Architects launched an ambitious initiative to integrate Saudi artists into the design of the Sports Boulevard from the earliest stages of the masterplan. This transformative project is made possible by the removal of over 150 large transmission towers and the burial of existing power lines.

In tight collaboration with the Design Consortium, we identified a unique opportunity: to preserve one of the largest transmission towers and reimagine it as a beacon of public art. This powerful gesture not only celebrates the creative spirit of the Sports Boulevard but also symbolizes the bold vision of the Saudi 2030 initiative.

In the end, the tower was re-engineered and built in partnership with the Sports Boulevard design and engineering team.

The Arts Tower is an icon that reflects the city’s identity and ambition. It is not merely a piece of art; it is a machine of wonder, a generator of imagination.