That's a very interesting trivia.
The size comparison: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/13/14/4D2F6ADC000...
The size comparison: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/13/14/4D2F6ADC000...
That's the Daily Mail's windmill size picture, set beside the Abraj Al-Bait. My hobby is pointing out the existence of this building to people. Please forgive the jpg artifacts and the horrible photoshopping, but the point is, this is to scale. (give or take a few %)
Now, it's not the worlds tallest building per say, but certainly the most collosal thing ever made by mankind. Of course (where else) in Saudi Arabia. As shown schematically in the image, its dimensions are insane x nuts x wtf.
EDIT: fix image link
Newest build turbines are 220m diameter, so 50% larger than that. Those will be used on the Dogger Bank windfarm that, IIRC starts construction next year. I dread to think what will be a state of the art diameter in 2029.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/01/worlds-l...
I'll follow his line, and call the Markaz al Mamlaka in Riyadh a Saudi Orthanc for completeness
1780 CE isn't exactly ancient. As to whether it was "worth it," I imagine the intended benefits were more about providing somewhere to accommodate 8 million visitors to the city than the aesthetic preference of skyscrapers to forts. (Though personally, I don't see how it's 'ugly'.)
Ugly is subjective, but to my eyes it's a large McMansion. Which would normally imply trying to look more expensive than it is, using random features and jarring or anachronistic details, but in this case with colossal budget that clearly doesn't apply. :)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_h...
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d0/80/35/d08035e818165925562b836e7...