April 24, Leeds This week of April 24, 2009 saw the ‘topping out’ ceremony for the newest edition to the Leeds skyline, careyjones architects’ striking residential tower at Granary Wharf for ISIS Waterside Regeneration. The Granary Wharf development, comprising three separate buildings, is one of only a few Leeds city centre schemes that are on schedule for completion in 2009. ...more

April 24, New York Richard Rogers and Norman Foster’s towers for New York’s Ground Zero site may not be completed for another 20 years, according to a leaked report commissioned by the city’s Port Authority in April 24, 2009. The report, by real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield, claims the New York property market cannot support the extra 700,000sq m of commercial space that developer Larry Silverstein’s three towers would create on the 6.5ha site...more

April 24, Rotterdam Rem Koolhaas's massive, doughnut-shaped CCTV building in Beijing survived unscathed in February 2009 when a fire engulfed a nearby tower belonging to the same complex. But the event signaled the ending of an architectural era. "I don't even know about the word 'downturn,' " said Mr. Koolhaas in his office in Rotterdam in April2009, reflecting on the global economic slowdown that has stopped the architecture world dead in its tracks. "It's seems simply the end to a period."...more

April 24, Vancouver Construction is underway in April 2009 on a new project in Vancouver, Canada. Named Jameson House, the tower which will stand at 115 meters is designed by renowned British architectural firm Fosters and Partners in conjunction with Walter Francl Architects Inc. Proving that old and new can be mixed the project includes the restoration of the A-listed 1921 Ceperley Rounsfell Building and the retention of the facade of the B-listed 1929 Royal Financial Building, as well as the new tower...more

April 23, Dubai It seems that the higher the Burj DubaiBurj Dubai gets, the longer the waiting list becomes of people wanting to climb it, jump from it or perform some acrobatic stunt on top of it. So far the developer Emaar has declined comment on the deluge of applications from extreme sportsmen looking to break world records. "There is something about the Burj DubaiBurj Dubai that seems to inspire superlatives," said one renowned designer, who declined to be named...more

April 23, New York All over New York, projects that broke ground with irrational exuberance are topping out in uncertain conclusion. But others that are only in the planning stages have gone to the back burner, perhaps never to surface again. When the stock market crashed in October 1929, many ambitious plans that would have changed the face of New York simply vanished. For real estate developers, 1929 seemed like a slot machine stuck in the pay position...more

April 23, Gavle, Sweden Proposals have been put forward for a new skyscraper to grace the Swedish city of Gavle. Located in the city's technology park, the tower if built would stand at 150 meters, making it the second tallest in Sweden after Malmo's Turning Torso with 55,000 square meters of usable space on offer. Named the Swan, it is the idea of Swedish banking and insurance company Länsförsäkringar...more

April 23 As urban areas become more congested and dense, it becomes more challenging for city dwellers to spend time outdoors, exercise and relax. Buildings tower over public parks, blocking out the sun, while city streets are polluted with particulate matter and exhaust from vehicles. To cope with the growing need for green urban space, San Francisco-based designer Joanna Borek-Clement has envisioned these eye-popping Sky-Terra skyscrapers...more

April 22, Salt Lake City For Earth Day, managers of the building on 222 Main allowed camera crews to film the inside of the new environmentally friendly skyscraper. Once fully built, the building will be a first for Salt Lake to obtain a Silver Leed certification. The building has air intake from the top that pumps fresh air to aid cooling instead of relying heavily on air conditioning as well highly efficient glass. The building is slated to finish in November 2009...more

April 22, Singapore Broadway Malyan has landed the £73 million project to design the new National Heart Centre in Singapore. The 35,000 m² scheme is part of the larger redevelopment of Singapore General Hospital’s Outram Campus and has been designed in collaboration with Ong & Ong Architects. The practice aims to use modular construction methods and could start on site as early as September 2009. The new centre is expected to complete in early 2012...more

April 21, California iCrete, based in Beverly Hills, California, has developed a proprietary algorithm for designing concrete mixes that it says can reduce portland cement content by 10%–40% without compromising strength. Cement production is energy-intensive; in a concrete mix with 12% cement, the cement is responsible for 92% of the embodied energy of the mix. In addition, extra cement usually increases early strength gain but can compromise long-term durability and cause other problems...more

April 20, Boston Since it was planted in the landfill of Boston’s Back Bay district in the 1970s, I.M. Pei and Henry N. Cobb’s John Hancock Tower (1976) has been an emblem of spectacular but problematic commercial architecture. Excavation for the tower cracked the masonry of H.H. Richardson’s neighboring Trinity Church, faulty curtain walls rained glass onto surrounding streets, and the building swayed excessively. In 2009, it’s a ready symbol of today’s vertiginous commercial real estate market...more

April 21, Kuwait Construction works at Al-Hamra Tower project are going on as per the set plan, and the 64th floor of the over-70-storey skyscraper has been completed. The tower will be completed by the end of 2010 as planned, said Khalid al-Othman, deputy chairman and CEO of Al-Hamra Real Estate Company, which, together with Ajial Real Estate Entertainment Company, are executing the project. Al-Hamra Tower is a super tall skyscraper currently under construction in downtown Kuwait City...more

April 21, Abu Dhabi In the throes of a financial crisis, industry events have been forced to reassess at every level. From attendance figures to exhibitor lists, to attendee tête-à-tête’s in the corridor, the business and impact of an event alters with the times. At MIPIM in March 2009, we saw a general sobering of conversation and a much more visible back-to-business approach to the typically merry event. And in April 2009 Cityscape Abu Dhabi poses the questions: Will things ever be the same again?...more

April 21, London Carery Jones Architects has designed the new 11-floor scheme to stand off Burdett Road and Limehouse Cut in East London about half a mile north west of Canary Wharf. Penned for the Trillium Prime Property Group, the scheme features 56 new apartments, 17 of which will be affordable, and 658 square meters of ground floor retail on what is currently an abandoned unemployment office...more

April 20, Dhaka, Bangladesh Most of the multi-story government and private office buildings in the capital remain vulnerable to any potential fire with no or inadequate safety measures posing a threat to public life. The 22-storey Navana Tower at Gulshan intersection-1 lacks a workable fire-fighting system except for some hydrant boxes, date-expired fire extinguishers and alarm bells...more

April 20, Mumbai Work continues on what is one of the first real skyscraper projects to go up in India which are expected to be completed later in 2009. Grandly named Imperial Towers, the twin towers that have heralded India's skyscraper boom are the work of home-grown architect, Hafeez Contractor, and are located in Mumbai. Upon completion the twins will stand at a height of 249 meters and were designed to be India's tallest towers...more

April 20, Warsaw In Poland, financing problems and low demand have already called into question the future of at least three spectacular high-rise projects whose construction was announced within the last few years since 2009. Completion of many more will probably be delayed. In Wrocław, construction on LC Corp’s 258-m Skytower project, which would be the tallest residential building in Poland, was officially put on hold in November 2008...more

April 20, Dubai Since the completion of the Dubai World Trade Centre Tower in 1978, Dubai has been synonymous with the design and construction of iconic tall buildings. Now in its third year MEED Events’ Building Tall 2009, being held on the 27th – 28th April 2009 at The Westin Hotel, Dubai, is the leading forum for industry professionals to gain the latest information on the super tall projects currently under construction in the Gulf and across the world...more

April 19, Atlanta At the Brookwood, one of Buckhead’s newest high-rise condominiums, it’s easy to spot the floor-to-ceiling windows, stone countertops and private balconies that add zeroes to the price. Harder to find are the energy- and water-efficient technologies hidden in the closets, plumbing and walls that have the Brookwood on track to earn Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council...more

April 18, USA In the construction industry, architects are sometimes like the canaries in a coal mine. Architecture firms started seeing signs of slackening demand in early 2008, and, in recent months in early 2009, as the full force of the recession has hit, many of these firms have had to make deep staff cuts. Some of the biggest reductions have come at high-profile shops like Gehry Partners, which cut half its staff, and Foster + Partners, which shed 25 percent and shuttered some overseas offices...more

April 17, Mumbai Approval has been given to what could become India's tallest building if it goes ahead. Named Shreepati Skies the project will be located in Mumbai and is the work local architect Reza Kabul, who has penned it for the Shreepati Group. The tower, which will stand at 301 meters when complete, will be built on a two acre plot currently occupied by century old, low rise residential buildings showing the same sort of emerging modernity so heavily featured in Slumdog Millionaire...more

April 17, Hangzhou Approval has been given to yet another skyscraper project to grace Hangzhou's flourishing skyline. The project named Raffles City Hangzhou is the fourth installment to CapitaLand's "Raffles City" brand which already has one of its projects, Raffles City Shanghai completed and the remaining three sited in Beijing, Chengdu and this one in Hangzhou at various stages of development with all expected to be completed by 2012...more

April 17, Tanzania Not many people would be envious of you if you were living in a cave — but they might be a little envious if you stayed in this hotel, located in Tanzania and designed by WOW Architects. The hotel is comprised of two buildings and its overall design was inspired by geological processes that shape rock formations in nature. The architects were inspired by nature’s way of creating hills or mounds, and how these hills are eventually inhabited by living things...more

April 17, Johannesburg The Absa Towers West project is not only transforming the Johannesburg inner city skyline, it is taking green building in the city center to a new level, as the financial giant has committed to design and construct its new offices incorporating green building elements. The R1,2-billion project in Marshalltown covers three city blocks, includes new buildings and building upgrades involving eight buildings, as well as the development of the surrounding built environment...more

April 16, New York A Silverstein Properties executive slammed the Port Authority at a community meeting on Monday night April 13, 2009, an early public sign of what became an increasingly public battle as the week wore on. At the center of the battle is the suggestion that it could take a few decades to rebuild the World Trade Center...more

April 16, London Tower Hamlets Council has approved the design by Foster + Partners for London’s tallest residential tower. Called The Pride, after the City of Pride pub which it will replace, the 200m-tall tower will be located next to Canary Wharf and have 410 apartments and eight penthouses. The site is being developed by Irish firm Glenkerrin, the same developer behind Foster’s controversial Ealing Arcadia scheme in west London...more

April 16, Ann Arbor Researchers at the University of Michigan simulated an off-the-charts earthquake in a laboratory to test their new technique for bracing high-rise concrete buildings. Their technique passed the test, withstanding more movement than an earthquake would typically demand. The engineers used steel fiber-reinforced concrete to develop a better kind of coupling beam that requires less reinforcement and is easier to construct...more

April 16, Mackay, Australia Construction on luxury residential high-rise 'The Pier Residences' could begin within 12 months after Mackay Regional Council handed the developers their approval on April 15, 2009. One of the men behind the development, Graham Caracciolo, said he could not comment in detail on the approval because the first he had heard of it was from the Daily Mercury, and he would wait until it was formalized by council...more

April 15, Cape Town The Portside project, Cape Town’s first post-apartheid skyscraper, designed by Louis Karol, has commenced construction following planning approval on 15 April 2009. Designed for Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments (OMIGPI), and located on the old Malgas/Porters/Shell site, opposite the V&A Waterfront entrance, the tower will rise to approximately 148 metres in height...more

April 15,  London The credit crunch has been on-going a while in early 2009 and is continuing to claim victims, this time in the form of Heron steel contractor, the Allerton Group. Also sucked into administration by the collapse of the group are Allerton Engineering, Allerton Industries and Allerton Bridges thanks to continuing cash flow problems across the range of companies...more

April 15, Ho Chi Minh City Turner International’s Bitexco Financial Tower project in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam recently achieved one million working hours without a lost-time incident. To commemorate this significant safety milestone, Turner International hosted a celebration for the 550 workers on the project. Turner International is providing construction management services for the 68-story office tower. Upon completion, the Bitexco Financial Tower will reach a height of 262 meters...more

April 15, Italy On April 6, 2009, an M6.3 earthquake occurred in central Italy, causing hundreds of casualties, building damage, and ground failure. Teams of earthquake researchers, sponsored by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Center (PEER), and the Geo-Engineering Earthquake Reconnaissance (GEER) Association, will coordinate to investigate and document scientific and engineering effects of the earthquake...more

April 15, Chicago Mesa Development, LLC and Walsh Investors, LLC are pleased to announce the topping off of The Legacy at Millennium Park, a 356-unit luxury condominium tower overlooking Chicago’s famed lakefront and Millennium Park. Construction of the 72 story, 822 foot tower, overseen by general contractor Walsh Construction Company, is proceeding according to schedule and initial occupancies are expected in the fall of 2009...more

April 15, London English Heritage (EH) has publicly attacked Allies and Morrison’s proposed high-rise Elizabeth House scheme in central London. EH claims the three-tower development next to Waterloo Station would cause ‘significant harm’ to the Westminster World Heritage site. A public inquiry into the £1 billion development for P&O on London’s South Bank, which features two office blocks and a residential skyscraper (22, 27 and 39 storeys respectively), kicks off on 15 April 2009...more

April 15 Since the dawn of the skyscraper, architects have been preoccupied with going higher. In the mid-to-late 19th century, advances in steel construction and elevator technology allowed buildings to soar into the air—usually going straight up, or sometimes tapering back a bit at the top. While some completed and still-under-construction buildings are currently vying for the title of “World’s Tallest,” these days architects are exploring new directions...more

April 14, China The Dubai skyscraper dream may be going pop in 2009, but it was never really the biggest or most spectacular one in the world despite the PR saying otherwise. The Middle Eastern Emirate had come out of nowhere rising rapidly from the desert with a collection of bling towers and ever more outrageous proposals including the Burj Dubai and the recently terminated Nakheel Tower, but compared to China it's little more than a storm in a teacup...more

April 14 While China plans to build a further 50,000 skyscrapers, equivalent to 10 New Yorks, guardian.co.uk picked the most eco-friendly and innovative present and future high-rises from around the world...more

April 14, London In April 2009, the 288 meter tall Pinnacle is under construction. Record piles are already being used to build the foundation but what about the design that crowns the top of this KPF designed skyscraper? It features a zoomorphic shape that unfurls with the facades of the outer walls are clad in overlaying panels of glass, almost like fish scales...more

April 13, Houston Located within Houston’s Energy Corridor, the 638,000-square-foot Energy Center I and II is the 2009 Green Project Landmark Award winner. Developer Trammell Crow Co. broke ground on the speculative Energy Center I in October 2006 using conventional construction techniques. Five months later, the developer took another gamble by switching to and investing in green building methods in an effort to qualify for LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council...more

April 13, Wuxi, China Construction is underway on what is possibly China's most unique and unusual super tall skyscraper project. Named the Farmer's Apartments, the project is located in rural Huaxi town which lies within Wuxi city limits and is the brainchild of the local government as an urban experiment. The plan is to move the local farmers into the supertall, super-cool looking tower and then reclaim back land currently used for housing and return it to farming...more

April 13, Los Angeles A pair of high-rise projects planned for the Figueroa Corridor downtown jumped into the headlines in early April 2009, as if out of nowhere. The first, set to replace the Wilshire Grand hotel and office complex at Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard, will be designed by AC Martin Partners. It has an estimated budget of more than $1 billion. The other, proposed for a site near the southern edge of South Park, across from the Los Angeles Convention Center, is by Daniel Libeskind...more

April 13, Shenzhen The new Vanke Center in Shenzhen, Guandong Province, is a "horizontal skyscraper" designed by maverick architect Steven Holl. The maverick architect Steven Holl is turning the traditional idea of a skyscraper on its head - or rather on its side. The new Vanke Center is a "horizontal skyscraper" and is being built in Shenzhen, Guandong Province in April 2009. If it was stood up vertically, it would be as tall as the Empire State Building, but lying horizontally it stands just 35 meters...more

April 13, New Jersey If you can’t afford to live in Manhattan, New Jersey’s Gold Coast might be a good alternative. The fast growing urban communities of Hoboken and Jersey City, situated on the Hudson River, are just a stone’s throw from New York City accounting for their growing desirability. In April 2009, one of the latest residential projects nearing completion in Jersey City is 77 Hudson, designed by New York based Cetra/Ruddy...more

April 13, Gurgaon, India With more and more high rises dotting the skyline in the NCR, lifts and escalators have become an essential part of urban life in suburbs like Gurgaon and Faridabad. But the death of an IT executive in a lift mishap in Gurgaon raises grave safety concerns. Haryana government officials, however, say that the Cyber Greens episode was an exception. ‘‘Majority of the buildings are owned by private bodies and the maintenance is also done by private companies...more

April 12, London HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, may sell three of its landmark office buildings, including the Canary Wharf world headquarters in London, to raise cash as it tries to avoid a bailout from the British government. HSBC is gauging interest in its 45-story tower at 8 Canada Square in London, its Fifth Avenue skyscraper in New York, and its Paris offices on the Avenue des Champs Elysees, said Ruth Lavelle, a London-based spokeswoman for HSBC...more

April 12, New York New York's most iconic building has announced a $20million eco-refit as an addition to its $500million renovation efforts to attract new tenants. The Empire State Building is not the first existing building to go green. In March 2008 following a multi-million dollar green outfitting, the Merchandise Mart in Chicago was awarded a Silver LEED certification and became the world’s greenest certified commercial building...more

April 12, Ho Chi Minh City At 269 m Vietnam's Bitexco Financial Tower will be the country's tallest tower. Designed by New York architect Carlos Zapata Studio and carried forward by AREP of Paris, the design consists of 68 floors of office space, 6 basement floors of parking and a 5-floor retail podium. 100,000 square meters of commercial space will be created in the build which is set to take 36 months. Ground works have been under way since 2008...more

April 10, Manila, Philippines Imagine a modern city where buildings are built without having to kill a single tree. Or where skyscrapers incorporate best environmental practice, help reduce costs, and improve working and living conditions. This vision is no longer a just dream with today's technologies, say building experts. With the threat of climate change upon the world today, British building and design companies shared the latest environmental technologies with their Philippine counterparts...more

April 10, Pittsburgh It might be the ultimate nose bleed seat, and an expensive one at that. But it's also one gorgeous view. From a condo on the 22nd floor of Three PNC Plaza, it will be possible, with the help of a pair of binoculars, to watch a Pirates game from the comfort of your living room, except perhaps for balls hit into the right field corner. But a bird's-eye view of PNC Park isn't the only visual treat awaiting buyers willing to plunk down more than half a million dollars in the midst of a recession...more

April 9, Los Angeles A new law on the books in the city of Los Angeles offers big hope for both the green building and green jobs movements. The L.A. City Council on April 8, 2009 unanimously passed a "Green Building Retrofit Ordinance" that will retrofit all city-owned buildings larger than 7,500 square feet or built before 1978 with a target of hitting LEED Silver-level certification...more

April 9, Seattle The magnitude-6.3 earthquake that struck villages in Italy was horrible enough, but can you imagine what would happen to a city like Seattle if it were hit by a magnitude-9 shocker? That's exactly what Caltech's Thomas Heaton and Jing Yang try to do in a new series of simulations - and the picture isn't pretty. In many of the simulations, high-rise buildings suffered severe damage. In some of the simulations, they collapsed altogether. Do those simulations reflect reality?...more

April 9, Auckland, New Zealand Auckland's softening apartment sector has hit plans for a £175 million skyscraper almost as tall as the Sky Tower, convincing the developer to turn instead to a new office block. Dae Ju, a South Korean developer, was to build the 67-level Elliott Tower in time for the Rugby World Cup in 2011. But Marcus Beveridge, Dae Ju's Lawyer, cited the apartment downturn as the reason no work had started and said planning consent had just been won for a 26-level office Shortland St office block...more

April 8, Shenyang Preparation work is underway in April 2009 for the start of construction of a new skyscraper project to be located in Shenyang, China. Called the Shenyang Eton Center, a name that evokes posh public schools, the design comes from the pens of American based architectural firm John Portman and Associates, and features 2 skyscrapers standing at heights of 400 meters and 300 meters as well as several low rise buildings...more

April 8, Chicago Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg publishes a rant today about the "dinkiness" of the spire atop the Trump International Hotel & Tower. The spire is too short compared to the soaring broadcast antennas of the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Center, he complains, and it's too delicate - "a pale wisp of parsley set atop a roasted ox, a toothpick flagpole stuck into a giant wedding cake." Nice writing, but...Earth to Neil: The spire isn't done yet...more

April 8, London Ropemaker, the under construction tall building in the City of London opposite Citypoint, has finally had its first tenant signed up for it in a deal that will fill 38% of the building. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, two wings of the Bank of Tokyo, have agreed to take about 20,500 square meters of space in British Land's building in a deal that will see them pay £46.50 per square foot for a twenty and a half year lease...more

April 8, New York It would be easy to dismiss the new Standard Hotel in the meatpacking district as a final shout-out to the age of excess. The entire area, whose trendy shops and cafes must still contend with the occasional whiff of rotten meat, reflects a development culture run amok. Well, that would be a mistake. The boutique hotel, designed by Polshek Partnership, is serious architecture...more

April 8, Brussels Redesign of European Community district awarded to the French architect. La rue de la Loi, the administrative heart of the EC in Brussels, is to be redesigned by French architect Christian de Portzamparc, one of five shortlisted in an international competition for the project. 35 firms entered the international competition hosted by the Brussels Capital Region in collaboration with the European Commission and the City of Brussels...more

April 8, Calgary When Jared Kichula opened his Italian restaurant to rave reviews in late 2007, he didn't think twice about being across the street from a major construction zone. "I didn't mind the mess or the noise one bit," says the 30-year-old owner of La Vita e Bella. "That was the sound of money." Kichula was counting on an influx of residents over the next few years, thanks to the building of a 42-storey tower...more

April 8, Seattle The ceremonial topping off of downtown Seattle's extravagant ESCALA condo tower Tuesday, April 7, 2009 also capped the city's development boom. "This is the last concrete pour in Seattle or Bellevue for this entire cycle," Dean Jones, president of Seattle condo marketing firm Realogics, said just before the ride up to ESCALA's 31st-story roof in a construction elevator. "The question is, when the next project is going to come out of the ground," Jones said...more

April 7, Seoul The project formally announced by local government in Seoul, is being developed by a wing of Samsung, C&T and is intended to stand 690 meters tall with 133 floors. The design has yet to be publicly finalized and has changed substantially since it was last featured with the most recent version in April 2009 being resplendent with curves, a far cry from the angular twin towers that were previously mooted...more

April 7, Reading, UK A £32m skyscraper, the tallest in Reading, is to open in late April 2009. Standing at 420 ft (128m) the Blade will tower over the town centre, replacing the 12-storey Thames Tower as the focal point of the town. Lead developer PMB Holdings believe London businesses can more than halve their business costs by relocating to the 'iconic' building. The Blade will open for business at the end of April 2009 and developers are 'quietly confident' of its success...more

April 7, Instanbul KONE has won an order to supply 14 elevators for the high-rise Anthill Residence project in Istanbul. The client for the project is the Turkish company Ant Yapi, who has worked with KONE in the past, notably on the remarkable Capital City project in Moscow where KONE supplied 52 elevators and 6 escalators. The project consists of two residential towers with 54 floors each. The prestigious elevators will carry passengers to their floor at a speed of 6 m/s...more

April 6, New York Once the world’s tallest building, the Empire State Building is striving for another milestone: It is going green. Owners of the New York City landmark announced on Monday, April 6, 2009 that they will be beginning a renovation in summer 2009 expected to reduce the skyscraper’s energy use by 38 percent a year by 2013, at an annual savings of $4.4 million...more

April 6, Mexico City Mexico City despite having thousands of sprawling concrete housing blocks is hardly skyscraper central however one of the tallest towers ever planned there in April 2009 begins ground work and promises to make a substantial pinnacle for the skyline. Torre Reforma is a 244-meter tall prism-shaped tower designed by LBR&A Arquitectos for a joint venture by Capital Vertical Grupo Inmobiliario and Inmobiliaria Torre Chapultepec...more

April 6, San Jose, CA Neighbors' concerns about the potential construction of three, 15-story buildings in Midtown San Jose may not end with the Ohlone Mixed-use Project. The area around West San Carlos and Sunol Streets, just outside of downtown, could become home to many high-rises as part of city plan encouraging higher density near mass transit, according to city leaders...more

April 6, Belconnen, Australia High-rise apartment blocks on Lake Ginninderra and in the Belconnen Town Centre will be a shock at first but people will get used to them, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says. His vision is to increase the density in the Belconnen Town Centre and see more commercial and residential blocks near the water. ''I have lived in Belconnen for the last 40 years and I think that first tall building will be confronting. But greater residential reasonably adjacent to the lake is desirable.”...more

April 6, Bradford No. 1 Hamm Strasse, a new mixed use tall building that has been approved by the city planning authorities, will soon start construction in 2009 in the British city of Bradford at Block B of the very Germanic sounding. With approximately 1,200 square meters of office space spread over five floors, plus a hundred bedroom three star hotel and 20 apartments and all the usual facilities including a gym and conference centre...more

April 5, Guangzhou The Tulou affordable housing project by Urbanus is the subject of the fifth solos exhibition at New York’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. The exhibition focuses on this 245 apartment structure that in April 2009 is being built in Guangzhou, China. In addition to normal residential programming, the building also houses a dormitory, hotel, retail space, gym, library and a variety of communal and public spaces...more

April 4, Beijing China's unprecedented economic growth over the past 30 years has come at a huge cost to the environment. The damage has not only been to the air the Chinese breath or the water in their rivers, but also to its reputation across the world. But there are signs that China may now be serious about tackling pollution to prove to the world that it can develop while causing less damage to the environment...more

April 4, San Francisco The Aegon Group and Lowe Enterprises are pushing ahead with a proposed 38-story condo tower next to the Transamerica Pyramid, hoping that the residential market will have bounced back by the time the highrise could be finished in 2012. In the revised design by San Francisco-based HellerManus, 555 Washington St. would start with a rectangular base and twist a quarter-turn as it rises, morphing into a circle at the top...more

April 4, Minneapolis Tom Meyer from Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle: "The IDS is such a graceful, beautiful tower; it's clearly the best of any contemporary tall building in the area. Every new building that goes up verifies IDS as the premier tower. I think it put Minneapolis on the map -- in one fell swoop -- as a national player."...more

April 3, Los Angeles Korean Air Lines Co. and Thomas Properties Group Inc. plan to build a $1 billion office-and- hotel complex, downtown Los Angeles’s first office high-rise since 1992, to capture rising demand after the U.S. recession. A 60-story office tower with 1.15 million square feet (107,000 square meters) of space and a 40-story hotel with as many as 700 rooms will be built on a full city block where the Wilshire Grand Hotel now stands...more

April 3, Oklahoma City Planned skyscraper projects are being scrapped around the world, leaving Devon Energy looking at significant potential cost savings as it proceeds with construction of its 54-story world headquarters. Klay Kimker, Devon’s corporate services manager, is aware that some local residents worry the economic downturn will claim its tower, as well. But both Kimker and Chief Executive Officer Larry Nichols say the project is still on track...more

April 3, Perth, Australia A hybrid concrete construction solution employed on a new commercial high-rise project in Perth's CBD has helped deliver it on time and budget. The nine-storey Bishops See South Tower, completed earlier this year by Brookfield Multiplex, utilises both precast and insitu construction elements. Built on a 9m x 8.4m grid, the building consists of nine floors above a podium level and three basement levels...more

April 3, Bristol, UK People in St Paul's should find out soon whether they are likely to get a futuristic high-rise primary school. Bristol City Council wants to build a £10.5-million, four-storey school with a rooftop playground to replace Cabot Primary. It is waiting to find out whether the scheme can go ahead as part of the £300m onedovelane regeneration programme or whether it should be built as a standalone school...more

April 2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam It's taken a while to happen but Vietnam is gradually joining the Asian skyscraper boom with Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as it's called these days, acting as the hotspot of development in the country. The 262.5 meter tall Bitexco Financial Tower is being developed by Vietnamese company Bitexco and once completed will be the tallest skyscraper in the entire country. With 74 stories, it will contain roughly 100,000 square meters of much needed grade-A office space for the city...more

April 2, Chicago The CTBUH (Council on tall buildings and urban habitats) has started a three-year research project on mass evacuation of tall buildings. The body said: "In post 9/11 environment, it is vital to understand how the building design and evacuation procedures will cope with mass evacuation. An uncontrolled, full-scale evacuation in the light of human response is a situation for which many tall structures are currently unprepared."...more

Apr 1, Chongqing, China Thanks to its location in the very heart of the People’s Republic of China, Chonqing is often called the Chinese Chicago but the continuing skyscraper boom is more and more rivaling Dubai in scale these days with at least 13 supertalls planned in the central area of the city alone. One of the latest of these is the Yingli Tower, a 320 metre tall 72 storey office skyscraper that has gone through numerous design changes up until its present reincarnation...more

April 1, Brussels The European Union is planning a major makeover of its headquarters in Brussels. The ambitious design by French architect Christian de Portzamparc aims to transform the European Quarter from a concrete administrative ghetto into a glimmering "open city to the sky." The doors open and employees pour out of the massive, angular Justus Lipsius Building, where the Council of the European Union meets...more

April 1, Hamburg In the HafenCity, on a direct view corridor towards Hamburg’s inner city, lies the Oval am Kaiserkai with one of the most beautiful views of the Speicherstadt and the harbour. The area is characterized by its mix of contrasting urban elements such as industrial structures, historic warehouses and modern buildings, as well as by its extensive references to water...more

April 1, San Francisco In 2007, the competition to win the rights to build San Francisco's tallest tower drew powerful developers, celebrity architects and fervent public interest in the proposed designs. Now there's another competition just two blocks away, the grand prize a site with room for a 60-story tower at a major entrance to the Financial District. But only three teams bothered to respond  the public won't be allowed to glimpse any of the proposals until the city selects a winner...more

April 1, Seoul The sky is hardly the limit for Korean developers that are cranking out plan after plan to build super towers, but an insufficient pool of local architects is keeping them watching on the sidelines as observers of the high-rise boom. From the Sangam DMC Tower, Yongsan Dream Tower and Yeouido Parc1 to the Samsung-dong Green Gateway, a rush of new major construction projects are under way, but a majority of the work has been awarded to overseas architects...more

April 1, Abu Dhabi American firm Leeser Architecture has won first prize in a competition for a five-star luxury hotel in the Zayed Bay in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Called the Helix Hotel for its staggered floor plates, it rests in the bay, partially floating in the water and adjacent to the serpentine Sheikh Zayed Bridge which in April 2009 is still under construction by Zaha Hadid...more

April 1, London Deptford in the London borough of Greenwich is one of these places that is supposed to be a development hotspot but despite some landmark buildings has never quite taken off in the way Poplar for example has. The worst example is the Seager Distillery Tower which has still not started work on site...more

March 31, Singapore This incredible pixelated skyscraper by Singapore-based Design Act was a finalist in a competition to design a pavilion for the World Expo 2010. Entitled “My Dream, Our Vision”, the project uses permutated cubes to generate a spectacular modular sculpture that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Singapore as an efficient, dynamic, cosmopolitan, and forward-looking nation...more

March 30, London A £25m student accommodation project for Victoria Hall Ltd which was initially refused planning permission has passed on appeal and will soon join the landscape near London's Wembley Stadium. "The proposed building is of an outstanding architectural and urban design quality,” said the inspector. “It would create an attractive landmark enhancing the Stadium environs as well as the Capital” continues the report which upheld the recent planning appeal and granted consent. ...more

March 30, Minneapolis Soaring above the Mississippi River just east of downtown Minneapolis is one remarkable concrete job. There on Interstate 35W, the St. Anthony Falls Bridge carries 10 lanes of traffic on box girders borne by massive arching piers, which are supported, in turn, by footings and deep pilings. The bridge, built to replace one that collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people, is constructed almost entirely of concrete embedded with steel reinforcing bars, or rebar...more

March 30, Dubai Dubai’s much-anticipated Green Building Code, already four months overdue at the end of March 2009, is expected to be introduced by May 2009. Essa Al Maidour, the assistant director general for engineering and planning sector, said the new rules, which apply to all developers and new buildings in the emirate, will be drawn up within a couple of months. He said that the legislative regulations will be implemented in three phases...more

March 27, London Tower Hamlets council's next planning committee meeting on April 2, 2009 promises to be a veritable feast of reviewed planning applications for skyscraper aficionados. The committee will be meeting to decide the fates of the following buildings - Angel House. Designed by Jacobs Webber it will be 43 floors and 131.69 meters tall. It will contain 1,038 square meters of office space, 18 serviced luxury apartments, retail on the ground floor and 225 apartments...more

March 30, Moscow Sberbank will become the main owner of developer Capital Group's largest asset, the Gorod Stolits complex in Moskva-City, under a $400 million loan agreement. Sberbank, Sberbank Capital and Capital Group on Friday announced the restructuring of a loan to Capital Group for a total of more than $400 million...more

March 30, Seoul The world's second tallest building will be constructed in digital media city (DMC) in northwestern Seoul by 2015. Seoul City said Monday, March 30, 2009, a 690-meter-tall, 133-story multifunctional skyscraper will be constructed in Sangam-dong. Once built, it will be the second highest after the 800-meter-high Burj Dubai, which is under construction, by South Korean developer Samsung C&T. The construction will cost more than 3.3 trillion won ($2.37 billion), the city estimates...more

March 27, Southwark, UK A £215 million extension to make Tate Modern one of the most astonishing public buildings in the world is to be given the go-ahead. The Herzog-designed extension to the South Bank gallery is described as "extraordinary and unique" by planners in Southwark. Councilors vote on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 and are expected to approve the revised plans. The gallery must raise £145 million to build the 70-metre tall building, for which some funds are already in place...more

March 27, Glasgow Whilst other British cities outside of London are suffering badly in the skyscraper stakes with projects cancelled, abandoned half built, and leading local developers going bust, Glasgow seems to be having few of these problems. Hot on the heels of their planned Jumeriah Hotel and the Albany, two of the largest proposals for the city centre ever, comes another tower which promises to trump them both in the height stakes - the Savoy Center...more

March 27, Singapore Locals in Singapore have watched in bemusement as the podium of the OUB Center skyscraper was demolished - and now they know why. Plans are now afoot for a 38 storey skyscraper that will be built directly next door to the OUB Center and rise immediately up its side with a height of about 205 metres that has been designed by Tange Associates and SAA Architects...more

March 27, London It’s odd to think that the Modernist architect Le Corbusier has had a bigger influence on housing in Britain than in any other European country. It is odd because he never designed a building here, and also because so many Britons have long held him in particular contempt. Since the 1970s he has been about as popular around here as the French national soccer team, and more than a few concrete, Corbu-style projects have since been torn down or fallen into disrepair...more

March 27, Indianapolis Already five stories tall and 20 percent finished, the JW Marriott , which will be the state's largest hotel when it opens in early 2011, is taking shape. By the time the 34-story building opens, there will be 7,300 glass panels adorning the 1,005-room hotel. The glass is being produced by ASI Limited in Whitestown, which specializes in building enclosures...more

March 27, USA The country has fallen on hard times, but those of us who love cities know we have been living in the dark ages for a while now. We know that turning things around will take more than just pouring money into shovel-ready projects, regardless of how they might boost the economy. Windmills won’t do it either. We long for a bold urban vision...more

March 26, Southwark, UK Community secretary Hazel Blears has given the green light to both Ian Simpson Architects’ 52-storey Mirax-Beetham skyscraper and the neighboring Wilkinson Eyre twin-tower scheme on Blackfriars Road in Southwark, South London. The decision follows a joint public inquiry into the two high-rise developments near Blackfriars Bridge, south of the Thames, which started in September 2008...more

March 26, Manchester According to Alsop, the 100m-long, nine-storey building for developer Urban Splash was inspired ‘by three fat chips piled on top of one another’. The 142-apartment scheme, which sits between the Ashton and Rochdale canals, has a mix of one, two and three-bedroom flats. The upper stories are clad in ‘newspaper print’ to ‘echo the industrial heritage of the surrounding Ancoats area’. Work is expected to finish on the lower ‘chip’ in early Summer 2009...more