BIG Is Rethinking the Future City With Telosa

What if the blueprint for a new city placed people at the heart of the plan? This is the bold proposition behind Telosa, an ambitious urban development conceived by entrepreneur Marc Lore and designed by global architect BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). Set to rise in the American desert by 2050 and eventually house five million residents, Telosa challenges conventional thinking with a vision rooted in sustainability, social equity and technological innovation.

Unlike many emerging cities designed as national statements or tech showcases, many of which are top-down, state-driven developments, Telosa is grounded in human-centred design. Its guiding principle, ‘equitism’, reimagines how land, wealth and resources are distributed for a more inclusive and balanced model of urban life.

BIG’s masterplan draws on the tried-and-tested 15-minute city model, where everything needed for daily life is within a short walk or cycle ride. Nature is prioritised with generous public green spaces, alongside inventive green and clean infrastructure. A particularly striking emblem is what BIG calls the Equitism Tower – a futuristic skyscraper designed to function as both a symbol and a vertical community space, integrating greenery, water management and renewable energy.

BIG has long worked outside traditional architectural paradigms, delivering projects that are often surprising and almost always exciting. An early example is 8 House, outside Copenhagen, which reimagined affordable housing as a space for community, complete with green roofs and bicycle paths that wind through the building. Meanwhile, nestled in the forests of Norway, The Plus challenges conventional factory design with a bold, carbon-neutral structure that fuses production with public life — a thoughtful expression of how architecture can be both sustainable and deeply human.

The Telosa project will be realised in phases, beginning with an initial population of 50,000 by 2030 and scaling up over the following decades. Critics have raised questions around feasibility, cost and the environmental impact of building in the desert. Yet the developers stand by the scheme’s realistic long-term vision.

We spoke with Alana Goldweit, associate at BIG and lead designer on the project, to explore how these values are shaping the city’s evolving masterplan — and whether Telosa could offer a credible blueprint for the future of urban living.

Planning and designing a city in the desert must have posed some serious challenges. Do you have examples to share?

The main challenge is how to access resources like clean water in an arid climate and how to get resources reliably to the site, planning for city population growth and looking at ways to reuse, recycle and reduce waste to support sustainable design and development.

Water is therefore channeled into a central greenway and buildings are oriented to maximise shading and channel wind, naturally cooling the city streets that would otherwise bake in the desert sun. From day one, the city can be built around environmentally conscious site systems. Without having to renovate and revive outdated infrastructure and buildings, it opens the possibilities for innovation.

You see this as a blueprint for future urban environments. How easy would it be to replicate the Telosa model in other contexts, and does the people-first approach play a critical role here?

The design is a flexible framework, shaped by the natural environment and the people of its chosen site. It’s focused first on how to create a higher quality of life and greater opportunities for people, with culture and tradition playing an important role.

Once a pilot location is selected, local consultants and community members will be integral to the design process, ensuring a deep understanding of the site’s history, culture and traditions, which we see as an essential factor for the city’s success. Telosa is committed to minimising its impact on natural resources and preserving habitats, supported by a dedicated fund focused on wildlife preservation and restoration of the greater region.

Telosa’s ultimate vision is to accommodate five million residents. How are you involving the inhabitants in the design and planning?

We unveiled the vision at a public townhall at the Brooklyn Museum two years ago, where we engaged with potential residents and various thought leaders with expertise across many different disciplines. Since then, we have continued to foster dialogue through community forums, inviting future pioneer residents and many others to actively participate in shaping the city’s development.

What are the challenges in keeping a unique design without looking too futuristic, or indeed too generic and risking homogenisation?

In order for Telosa to have a varied and vibrant urban fabric, we must leave room for individuals to make their mark on the city. We see the design vision as a flexible framework that evolves over time, enlivened by the character, culture and creativity of architects, artists, builders and more. While certain elements are fixed, what arises within the city blocks will continue to evolve.

We are focused on a design that will help bring people from different backgrounds and experiences together. Creating a city with soul and vibrancy has been a big part of the conversation from day one. As we design for the next 50 years, we anticipate innovations in materials and construction, and we aim to create space for these advancements to shape the city’s future.

What are the opportunities for architects and urban designers to truly rethink how we live more healthily and equitably in the urban environment?

Our most unexpected design solutions are breakthroughs that come when we take risks – like proposing a ski slope on a power plant or sending Copenhagen’s most iconic statue to be the centrepiece of the Danish Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. These bold moves led to groundbreaking designs and experiences.

Building a city from scratch is a big risk, and one that pushes us to innovate in ways we otherwise wouldn’t. Marc Lore, the visionary behind Telosa, isn’t afraid to take risks and challenge the status quo. By reimagining the economic model upon which a city is founded, he is laying the groundwork for a more equitable urban environment, prompting us to reconsider how accessible and healthy urban spaces can enhance this vision. We believe that maintaining this people-first design as the city evolves and grows will help ensure Telosa contributes to a more equitable and sustainable future.