The Line and the dream of the linear city

Spanish urban planner Arturo Soria y Mata was the first to propose this concept, and in 1882 he proposed the idea of an "almost perfect" city consisting of a 500-meter-wide urban strip, with services arranged on either side of a very long boulevard. His experiment was partly realized under the name Ciudad Lineal, an urban area later swallowed up by the sprawl of Madrid's suburbs. The idea of building a linear city was then taken up by Edgar Chambless in the early 20th century in the United States. On a map, the architect drew a straight line across the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, passing through the Allegheny Mountains, the Mississippi River, and the Rocky Mountains. Along this line, Chambless envisioned a continuous strip of two-story houses built over three rail lines, with a rooftop promenade and vast green areas. This endless urban strip would be named Roadtown, combining the conveniences of the city with the beauty of the countryside. Chambless's vision embodied the U.S. idea of freedom and mobility, yet the concept of a linear city was also making inroads even among Soviet architects. Mikhail Okhitovich, a constructivist theorist, rejected the principle of a centralized city as a typical expression of capitalism, advocating the design of a city made in strips. In 1930, the Russian architect presented a linear evolution plan for the city of Magnitogorsk, envisioning a network of eight 25-kilometer-long vectors along which residents and workers would live in individual houses, with children relegated to separate spaces. Okhitovich's idea was not well received. Indeed, he was considered politically dangerous and executed in 1937.

Meanwhile, a superstar of French architecture, Le Corbusier, was also pondering the same concept. In 1931 the French government presented an urban planning project for Algiers in celebration of the centenary of colonial rule. Le Corbusier saw it as an opportunity to promote Plan Obus, an idea that was as futuristic as it was crazy that envisioned a huge elevated highway winding through the hills, with 14 stories of working-class housing crammed under the overpasses, a kind of viaduct-beehive capable of accommodating 180,000 people. Fortunately his ambitions remained on paper.In 1961, in Japan, architect Kenzō Tange presented his plan for the future of Tokyo Bay on TV. The plan called for an 80-kilometer urban spine across the bay, with modules connected by three levels of loop roads and buildings hooked to the highway skeleton. It was a system that could be expanded as needed. In his view, the structure of the modern city took the place of cathedrals: just as cathedrals were the center of the medieval city, so the new "civic axis" would shape the backbone of the metropolises of the future.

Aside from its promotional renderings, The Line will be a place to walk, sunbathe, and lie by the pool. It’s reasonable to imagine that ceramic and porcelain tiles will be an excellent option to clad it. Given the setting – desert and windy – the qualities of both materials – as strong as they are durable – make them ideal for cladding the exteriors of a man-made, futuristically elegant place. Ceramic tiles are dense and resistant to water, stains, and sunlight, and there are endless styles and finishes to choose from, making them perfect for creating designer solutions. Porcelain tiles are even more resilient due to their being pressed and fired at high temperatures. Perfect for the outdoors, we can already imagine them on the endless sidewalks of NEOM and framing the edges of swimming pools from the future. In fact, porcelain tiles stand up to abrasions, making them perfect for spaces that require durable flooring.We don’t know whether The Line will succeed or if it is doomed to fail like its predecessors, but we do know that with the right finishes its journey through time will certainly last longer. For now a thin line can already be glimpsed in the sand in the desert of northwestern Saudi Arabia.