Feb 24, Philippine

Leading international “green” architect Chad Oppenheim of Oppenheim Architecture + Design was selected by top Philippine developer, The Net Group, to design the nation’s first certified green project in Taguig City, Philippines. The Net Metropolis is the flagship pilot development of the  created Philippine Green Building Council to answer to the local environment’s specific needs...more

Feb 24, Chicago

Ever since its completion in 1986, the giant residential complex known as Presidential Towers has greeted passersby with an architectural slap in the face. Built on urban renewal land west of the Chicago River and designed by the Chicago firm now known as Solomon Cordwell Buenz, the four 49-story apartment towers were banal monoliths...more

Feb 24, Milwaukee

The $55.24 million The Moderne high-rise development has begun preparing for construction. The shipping container building that housed The Moderne’s sales office was packed up and removed from the site.  Additionally, utility work is ongoing adjacent to the site as the property is being staged for construction...more

Feb 24, Toronto

Ever since the beginning of the current Canadian building boom almost 20 years ago, the prolific Vancouver urbanist and architect James K.M. Cheng has been refining the art of residential intensification in his home town. The many condominium complexes he has designed for downtown Vancouver tend to be composed of glass towers allied with low banks of small buildings...more

Feb 24, London

The Shard is already a dominating feature of the London skyline, looming over the intimate streetscape of Southwark on the south bank of the Thames. Andy Bowden, a Tower Crane operator on the Shard explains what it is like working 1016ft above London Bridge railway station on the tallest building in Europe...more

Feb 24, Charlotte

Work on a major uptown high rise condo building is officially done. Crews finished building all 51 stories of The Vue condos in the Fourth Ward. Dan McLean, the Chicago developer, was in town and gave a one-on-one tour of one of the million-dollar units. McLean said 10 percent of the 61 percent of the building’s units sold have closed. They are closing one to two units a week...more

Feb 23, Shanghai

Towering over the skyline, the Shanghai World Financial Center stands as an indomitable symbol of a city quickly reemerging as a global player. It became an instant icon when completed in 2008 and in the same year was recognized as the best tall building in the world by leading authority The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which called it “nothing short of genius.”...more

Feb 23, New York

When the Durst Organization and Cook + Fox approached Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design to execute the exterior lighting scheme for One Bryant Park, they already had a very clear idea of how they wanted their building to appear at night. The crystalline volume of the 55-story tower features a variety of facets...more

Feb 22

The Gullwing Twin Wind Towers design makes use of a system of turbines mounted on a series of circular guides, which are operated by the wind as it pushes its way around the surface of the buildings’ facades. This mechanical energy is then converted to electricity used to power the buildings...more

Feb 22, New Haven

Few figures better illustrate the divide between how architects see the world and how the general public does than Kevin Roche. To many people, Mr. Roche’s buildings sum up everything that was wrong with modern architecture in the 1960s and ’70s, a period associated with hulking mega-structures that seemed completely out of touch with what was once called “the human scale.”...more

Feb 22, Tel Aviv

A pure and simple iconic mixed use residential, retail and office facility for the city of Tel Aviv, this 37-story tower for Berggruen Construction and Development will be located on Rothschild Boulevard and Allenby Street. The fundamental considerations that shape the tower scheme are the quality of light in the plan, views to the sea, and relationships with the existing fabric of Rothschild Boulevard...more

Feb 22, New York

One World Trade Center, the $3.2 billion skyscraper has risen more than halfway to its 104-story height. Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said how he galvanized the $11 billion World Trade Center site construction after years of political and management morass...more

Feb 20, Toronto

Similar in scale to the surrounding bank towers, the 51 story Bay Adelaide Centre Tower, completed in 2010, is located on the western edge of a development site that occupies 2 city blocks, in the financial core of the City of Toronto. The project contains over 111,000 m² of rentable class-AAA office space and includes over 3,700 m² of below-grade retail space linked to the downtown’s PATH system...more

Feb 20

Twenty-one years ago, Dubai was a desert. It sprang up seemingly from nothing into the lively and technologically advanced world-class city that it is today. This is just one example of the dramatic speeds with which cities can change, sometimes rendering their skylines virtually unrecognizable within decades...more

Feb 20, Shenzhen

The 100-story Kingkey Finance Tower, based in the city of Shenzhen, is part of a 417,000 square meter office, retail, entertainment, apartment and hotel complex. It will rank as the tallest building ever designed by a British architect and will tower over anything seen in the UK. The Shenzhen structure is nearly twice the height of 1 Canada Square, the Canary Wharf tower block that is Britain's tallest building...more

Feb 20, Mexico City

Due to the redesign and recovery of the Historic Center of Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma, one of the most important avenues of the city, reemerges as the most beautiful commercial, cultural and historic avenue of the metropolis. In recent years, distinct real estate property developments of exceptional importance and magnitude have been developed on this avenue...more

Feb 18, Chicago

"Solitude," declared the author of this article, is "un-American." We seek the company of others. That's easy in suburbia, where you see your neighbors while fetching the mail or mowing the lawn. But vertical living in the city can be another story. For urban high-rise dwellers, social activities and gathering spaces go a long way in fostering a sense of community...more

Feb 18, Calgary

Does Calgary need a new icon — a building that truly stands out from all the rest? With all due respect to the new Bow, 8th Avenue Place and Centennial towers, none of these are visible from all four quadrants as you enter the heart of the city. Have you ever wondered what Calgary’s downtown skyline might look like if someone were to construct a really tall building of, say, more than 100 floors?...more

Feb 18, Richmond

Major redevelopments at Richmond train station and a new "high rise density" suburb at Fishermans Bend will be the Baillieu Government's legacy, the planning minister claims. The overhaul of Fishermans Bend will transform it into a new "high rise density" suburb over the next 20 to 30 years, the State Government claims...more

Feb 18, Tempe

The saga of the unfinished Centerpoint in downtown Tempe was resolved when Cleveland-based Zaremba Group purchased the property. It was the same deal that was supposed to close October 2010 but fell apart because of complicated mechanics lien issues and disagreements with the title company...more

Feb 18, London

If you live in London's Docklands and want to see the first likely skyscraper proposals of 2011 an exhibition is being held on the 23rd of February as part of the consultations for a new scheme. The development situated on Cube Street and Manilla Street has been designed by 3d Reid and consists of two towers of approximately 122 meters and 157 meters in height respectively...more

Feb 18

High cost of travel getting you down? Well, things are looking up… WAY up! Check in to any one of the world’s 10 tallest hotels and you’ll enjoy heavenly views. The Rose Rayhaan by Rotana, commonly known as the Rose Tower, opened on December 23, 2009, and is the world’s tallest hotel...more

Feb 17

By 2050, we could get all the energy we need from renewable sources. This report shows that such a transition is not only possible but also cost-effective, providing energy that is affordable for all and producing it in ways that can be sustained by the global economy and the planet. The transition will present significant challenges, but this report is ought to inspire governments and business...more

Feb 17, London

Westminster Council gave the go-ahead to the billionaire Reuben brothers’ initial designs for one of the UK’s tallest buildings at Paddington. Simon and David Reuben are planning to build a 460ft, 42-story residential tower at Paddington Basin – nicknamed the “Cucumber Building” because of its curved shape...more

Feb 17, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd plans to develop a luxurious high-rise project with an estimated gross development value of RM300mil in Jalan Kia Peng. In a statement, it said the group had purchased a one-acre tract of prime land for the project. The project, slated to be developed over three years would be set alongside established, luxurious service residences within the general neighborhood of the Kuala Lumpur City Center...more

Feb 16, Liverpool

Plans for Liverpool’s second tallest skyscraper were approved amidst suggestions from the council it may never be built. The application, which has caused residents of the nearby City Lofts block to object en masse, has been in the system for several years and had already been approved once. The plan is for a 34-story tower block and eight-story building alongside it...more

Feb 15

This article takes a look at Britain's tallest building and the world's other high achievers. London's skyline is rapidly transforming as its latest landmark skyscraper, the Shard, takes the title of Britain's tallest building. Towering above London Bridge train station on the south bank of the Thames, the Shard has already outstripped Canary Wharf's One Canada Square...more

Feb 15, New York

In light of mixed public reaction at news of the potential four skyscrapers in the works in Upper Manhattan, Community Board 12 members drafted questions for developer Quadriad, which range from queries about the group’s willingness to build shorter buildings or to sell its affordable housing at rates more in line with the community’s median income...more

Feb 15, St. Petersburg

Since its founding over 300 years ago, St. Petersburg has been Russia‘s “gateway to Europe,” and therefore to the world. For this reason it is a culturally and economically important city for Russia. In order to expand the city both physically and economically, while preserving its historical background, a new district is planned at the western coast of St. Petersburg...more

Feb 15

As a result of polar icecaps supposedly melting, sea level is said to be slowly rising around the globe.  Rather than develop more buildings on potentially shrinking land, why not take civilization where it's never gone before: underwater?  The "Water-Scraper," a self-sufficient, floating city, would embody such sentiments...more

Feb 15, Chicago

The sculptural, EnV apartment tower, by Chicago architects Valerio Dewalt Train Associates, has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, its developers announced. EnV achieved LEED certification for energy efficient heating and cooling systems, high efficiency lighting, comprehensive recycling programs, in addition to a variety of other sustainable strategies...more

Feb 15, Haiti

The Coral Reef project designed by Vincent Callebaut Architects plans a matrix to build a three dimensional and energy self-sufficient village from one and only standardized and prefabricated module in order to rehouse the refugees from such humanitarian catastrophes. This basic module is simply made of two passive houses interlocked in duplex around a transversal horizontal circulation linking every unit...more

Feb 11, Sydney

Critics slammed the latest office tower to hit NSW Planning desks, a 42-story goliath, for being too broad and bulky. Architects had a second go at it, slimming the $1 billion building by 6m. Developers have slashed back the original plans, paring back the pier length from 150m to 85m, the hotel height from 213m to 159m, and the number of commercial towers from four to three...more

Feb 11, London

Hot on the heels of the rejected Bondway Tower in Vauxhall are plans by Allies and Morrison Architects to masterplan another of the key sites in the area for developer CLS. The site, named Vauxhall Square, sits in the heart of what could be one of the densest high-rise clusters in London. It is literally over the road to the north of the Bondway site...more

Feb 11, Italy

The winning projects for the Solar Park South international design competition in Calabria, Italy have been announced. The brief called for a 'Solar Highway' by re-using Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway sections between Scilla and Bagnara to be decommissioned by the Italian Highways Authority. The international jury selected three winning projects as well as ten Honorable Mentions...more

Feb 11, London

Developer Treasury Holdings has announced Manchester-based Ian Simpson Architects and London practice de Rijke Marsh Morgan (dRMM) as the architects for the initial phase of Rafael Viñoly’s masterplan for the 1930s building and surrounding area. Phase one involves the development of two blocks to the west of the 1930 power station...more

Feb 10, Vietnam

The list of the American architecture firms now building in Vietnam reads like a veritable Who's Who of the design world. They're engaged in all manner and shape of architectural practice in the two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, from master plans to suburban development to very tall buildings...more

Feb 10, New York

The new designs for the Nets' arena were said to be so loathed by certain city officials that the developer had to find another firm to dress things up. Ratner chose local hotshots SHoP, which had made its name designing hip, slightly cerebral housing, like the Porterhouse in the Meatpacking District, and the new designs for the East River Esplanade and South Street Seaport...more

Feb 10, Russia

Frédéric Chaubin was wandering through a market in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in 2003 when an old book snared his eye. Although unable to read the words, the French photographer was mesmerized by the images it contained. Chronicling 70 years of post-revolution architecture, the book featured an extraordinary collection of buildings that drew on an extraordinary collection of styles...more

Feb 10, Osaka

Paris-based Dominique Perrault architecture has completed 'Fukoku Tower', a 32-story office complex in the heard of Osaka, Japan. Situated on a corner near the city's main train station, the design applies an identifiable yet subtle architectural language to define itself as a physical marker in the urban landscape...more

Feb 10, New York

Many New Yorkers have been following the construction of the new residential tower at 8 Spruce Street, just south of City Hall, with a mix of awe and trepidation. Only now, as the building nears completion, is it possible to appreciate what architect Frank Gehry has accomplished: one of the finest skyscraper in New York...more

Feb 10, Tokyo

Architect Kisho Kurokawa was very innovative in his creation of the Nakagin Capsule Tower in 1972, which was the first capsule architecture design. The module was created with the intention of housing traveling businessmen that worked in central Tokyo during the week. It was a prototype for architecture of sustainability and recycleability, as each module...more

Feb 10, Oakland

The Tribune Tower high-rise in downtown Oakland has been shoved into receivership, but real estate agents maintain the signature building of the city's skyline can be revived. The 22-story building, a historic landmark, is 85 percent vacant, according to brokers from Colliers International...more

Feb 10, Hanoi

Property developer Kinh Bac Corp will start building a 400-meter-high skyscraper in Hanoi which is expected to be the world’s 11th tallest. It has submitted 24 designs for the US$1-billion, 100-story Lotus tower in Tu Liem District to city authorities for approval. Construction is scheduled to begin 2011...more

Feb 9, Beijing

Designs have been released for a new tower project to grace the skyline of Beijing, China rising a cool half a kilometer in height. Penned by architectural firm TFP Farrell‘s, the project is a joint venture between CITIC, Arup, BIAD and MVA and will occupy a prime spot in the new CBD extension in the east of the city. Promised to be an icon on a skyline in a country, the tower will be able to boast being the tallest tower in Beijing...more

Feb 9, Vancouver

The Squamish First Nation is considering a plan to build two high-rises on native land at the southwest corner of the Burrard St. Bridge in Vancouver. Chief Gibby Jacob said Wednesday the intent is to create economic development and provide much-needed housing for the community. “Nobody is lining up to house our people,” he said. “We have 2,000 members on a waiting list.”...more

Feb 9, Long Island City

A team made up of Related Cos., Phipps Houses and Monadnock Construction was selected 8 February 2011 to develop the first phase of a huge project on a 30-acre waterfront parcel in Long Island City, Queens, a site that was once envisioned as home to an Olympic Village for the 2012 games.  When completed, the project, known as Hunter's Point South, will be the city's largest affordable housing complex since the 1970s, providing homes for thousands of families...more

Feb 9, Mumbai

Here’s another entry in the “architecture as a natural but inanimate object” category: The new “Cybertecture Egg” has been designed as a poultry-inspired office building for Mumbai, India. The 32,000 square meter building was designed by James Law Cybertecture International. One way in which the firm has used technology in a new way for the design of the Egg is by electronically monitoring workers’ health...more

Feb 9, Paddington, UK

Robin Partington has said his practice does not intend to redesign its Merchant Square scheme in Paddington despite it coming in for stinging criticism from CABE.  Partington said the project, which features a 42-story centrepiece tower already dubbed the Cucumber, had been universally well-received and that CABE’s comments had come ‘like an Exocet from the side’...more

Feb 9, Instanbul

Infrastructure firm Hyder Consulting has won a contract to design one of the tallest buildings in Europe.  The deal for the new skyscraper in Istanbul, Turkey, was revealed as the company said it had continued to perform well since it last reported in November. “In Istanbul, Turkey, we have been appointed designers of what will be one of the tallest buildings in Europe,” said the statement...more

Feb 8

Besides making cities more affordable and architecturally interesting, tall buildings are greener than sprawl, and they foster social capital and creativity. Yet some urban planners and preservationists seem to have a misplaced fear of heights that yields damaging restrictions on how tall a building can be. From New York to Paris to Mumbai, there’s a powerful case for building up, not out...more

Feb 8, DeMoines

Russell Coco, the supervisor of a renovation project in the landmark Equitable Building, has agreed to plead guilty to charges related to whether asbestos was illegally removed from the building, court records show.  Coco's lawyer, Jan Kramer, confirmed 8 February 2011 that Coco will plead guilty to two counts of an 11-count indictment accusing him and his boss, developer Bob Knapp, of illegally removing health-threatening asbestos during the project from 2005 to 2008...more

Feb 7, Cambodia

The world's attention was indeed drawn to Diamond Island - but for the worst possible reason. Crowds overwhelmed the colorfully lit fairy-castle bridge linking the venue to the city centre - and at least 350 people died in the crush.  It seemed like Cambodia's adventures in skyscraper-building had come to a grisly end...more

Feb 7, Portsmouth

Architecture PLB has unveiled new images of its £30 million building for Portsmouth University’s Faculty of Social Science & Humanities. The practice has designed a 33-story tower, nicknamed the Portsmouth Blade, containing accommodation for 600 students, and a second, smaller building to be shared by the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies and the School of Education & Continuing Studies...more

Feb 7, Istanbul

Turkey's skyscraper boom is still flourishing with construction underway on a new tower for the city of Istanbul. The design comes from the drawing boards of homegrown Turkish architectural firm Iki Design Group and with a name showing a bit of backbone will be called the Spine Tower. The tower will be constructed from the more traditional glass and steel...more

Feb 7, Singapore

The second tower of Asia Square, Singapore, will commence construction in 2011, with the construction contract awarded to Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. This brings the total value of the construction of Asia Square to over S$1 billion. Hyundai E&C is overseeing the ongoing construction works of Asia Square Tower 1 which is scheduled for completion in June...more

Feb 7, Sydney

The colorful, ground-breaking inner workings of Sydney’s iconic skyscraper, Chifley Tower, will be on show for the first time in a rare photographic exhibition during February and March 2011. The ‘Heart of Chifley’ exhibition, by architectural photographer John Fryz, literally captures the engine room of the 42-level marble and glass building, which sits at the financial center of Sydney...more

Feb 7, New York

Durst Fetner Residential announced the design of West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building is designed by renowned Danish Architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and is their inaugural North American project. The building’s program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program...more

Feb 6

The first new H-Pile sizes in decades can provide a more economical way to not only handle heavier design loads for pile foundations, but also save money on column applications, according to piling contractors and structural engineers. The new sections of HP16 and HP18 give engineers and contractors a more economical way to construct deep foundations for buildings and bridges...more

Feb 6, Doha

Qatar has contracted the services of the Alicnate company Ecisa, to build a new skyscraper. They have won the contract to build the 44 story building, the ‘Bin Samikh’ tower, which will be home to a luxury five star hotel in the center of Doha, the capital of Qatar...more

Feb 5, Mumbai

Illinois Institute of Technology B.Arch students, Seth Ellsworth and JaYoung Kim shared their Mumbai traveling studio project, TATA Tower. Their project studies the infrastructural crisis regarding parking in developing regions such as Mumbai and how to address such issues in a way that does not stifle economic expansion, increases housing density, produces clean energy and creates high quality outdoor space for Mumbai...more

Feb 5, New York

The modern factory and its operations are the lynchpin of this system, and the improvements in its form and structure were many and dizzying over the course of the 20th century. The Vertical Urban Factory, a compact but impressive exhibition at the Skyscraper Museum in New York, examines the subject of the factory in detail...more

Feb 5, Italy

Southern Italy is dotted with unused viaducts, and rather than spending $50 million to tear them down, town officials near Calabria held a competition called “Solar Park South,” open to designers and engineers asking them to come up with an environmentally conscious way to re-use the existing structures. Solar Wind has an abundance of green benefits...more

Feb 4, Long Island City

Even in a sluggish market, property developers are continuing to bet on Long Island City’s transformation from towering smokestacks to residential towers. August 2010 TF Cornerstone, one of the city’s most prolific builders, broke ground on a 41-story tower at 46-15 Center Boulevard that is to have 367 rental apartments when finished in April 2012...more

Feb 4, Chicago

Fueled by a growing shortage of apartments and fears that condominiums will lose their value, Chicago's apartment building boomlet is a welcome shift from the brutal recession years, if only because it will help keep struggling architects off the unemployment rolls. Yet as two new apartment towers reveal, the design consequences of this anticipated construction surge are complex...more

Feb 3

The Energy Report: a comprehensive study developed by the WWF, AMO and Ecofys claiming that the world can be 100% reliant on renewable energy by 2050, launches globally today. The report proposes to address the urgent problems caused by looming climate change and dwindling fossil fuel supply through its assertion that by 2050, the world’s energy needs could be met entirely by renewable sources...more

Feb 3, Seattle

Plans to develop a three skyscraper project on city-owned land in downtown Federal Way appear dead. Twin Development, a group of Seattle-Tacoma area partners, failed to make a $100,000 payment to an escrow account by Monday. The payment was required to purchase the property for $6.1 million by March 31...more

Feb 3, Vladivostok, Russia

Sphera Company is going to erect the tallest in the Russian Far East building – 30-storeys skyscraper – on Sakhalin; they are planning to invest about 150 million Dollars into the project implementation and a half of the amount will be attracted at the expense of banking credits. Andrei ZAPLIN, the General Director of Sphera Company, reports to the journalists...more

Feb 2

Stair pressurization systems in high-rise buildings must be properly designed to avoid creating adverse conditions for egress. Alternate methods to pressurizing the stair bear further evaluation. The current design standard for protecting stairwells in high-rise buildings is to provide a “smokeproof” enclosure, using mechanical ventilation systems or other design alternatives for the purpose of prohibiting smoke entry into the stairwell...more

Feb 1, San Francisco

silver form of Rafael Viñoly’s Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building is a stunning discovery lurking at the back of the University of California, San Francisco. The most exciting local building to be erected since the California Academy of Sciences and the De Young went up in Golden Gate Park...more

Feb 1, New Orleans

At the request of New Orleans City Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer, developers hoping to build a $70 million high-rise tower on the site of a long-vacant Woolworth's store at Canal and North Rampart streets. Proponents argue that it would not be out of scale with other tall buildings on the French Quarter side of Canal Street, such as the Ritz-Carlton, Astor Crowne Plaza and Marriott hotels...more

Feb 1, Qatar

The Minister of Municipal Affairs & Agriculture (MMAA) in Qatar is getting a brand new office building that takes the form of a towering cactus. Designed by Bangkok-based Aesthetics Architects, the modern office and adjoining botanical dome take cues from cacti and the way that they successfully survive in hot, dry environments...more

Feb 1, Hong Kong

The recently completed Cubus building designed by Woods Bagot boasts exclusive open decks of differing sizes throughout various locations in the building, creating a strong identity that differentiates itself from surrounding structures. “The development of ‘Podium Tower’ buildings continue to prevail in Hong Kong due to local site coverage regulation, however, the design team transformed this potential constraint into an opportunity...more

Feb 1, Moscow

A decision was made at the last session of the city’s building commission to terminate eight construction projects, a source in the Mayor's Office told Vedomosti. This mainly affects high-rise projects that would place a burden on roads, utilities and social infrastructure, the mayor's press service said. Krost was to reconstruct a Moscow police facility...more

Feb 1, Jersey Shore

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has purchased Liberty Towers, a luxury rental complex in Jersey City with Hudson River views, for roughly $300 million, sources close to the deal said. They also speculated that the purchase was likely for one of the bank's property investment funds.  The purchase price means former owners Fisher Development Associates and Northwestern Mutual Life of Milwaukee could have tripled their money in seven years...more

Jan 31, Mumbai

It wasn’t even silly season a few months ago when the design media started going bananas over the world’s most expensive house, a 27-story concrete tower in Mumbai with six floors of parking, nine elevator banks, three helipads, a four-story open garden, health club, swimming pool, 50-seat theater, and cooling “snow” room, for starters...more

Jan 31, Shenzhen

TFP Farrells’ 441.8m-tall Kingkey Finance Tower in Shenzhen, China has gone into the record books by becoming the tallest building ever completed by a British architect. The company won the commission in an international competition beating off other internationally renowned firms, coming up with a mixed use development which also includes seven other tower standing above a retail podium...more

Jan 31

The purpose of the Zerofootprint Re-Skinning Awards is to stimulate market-disrupting improvements in the design and development of retrofitting and re-skinning technologies. These are newly evolving technologies and building systems that improve the energy efficiency and livability of older buildings...more

Jan 31, Seoul

A £1.3 billion deal to build skyscrapers designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour in the center of Seoul has hit the rocks because of a £110 million lawsuit filed by the Moonies. The Unification Church, as the Moonies are officially known, owns the 45,000sq m plot of prime real estate on which Parc 1, a prestigious hotel, retail and office complex whose towers reach 270m, is being built...more

Jan 31

The idea of high-rise living isn’t a particularly new one, but the proliferation of residential and office skyscrapers has accelerated exponentially over the past century. It wasn’t so long ago that the 10-story Wainwright Building, a red-brick office structure in downtown St. Louis, Missouri in the US floored bystanders with its imposing design and sheer size...more

Jan 31, Denver

Mesa West Capital has provided $70 million in first mortgage financing for the recapitalization  of 1999 Broadway, a 680,000 square-foot, Class A office tower in downtown Denver, CO. Funds sponsored by Broadreach Capital Partners and Transwestern Investment Company in joint venture with local investor and operator Equity West Investment Partners acquired the building in 2005 and...more

Jan 31, Dubai

Denton Corker Marshall’s design for a commercial tower/mixed use complex in Dubai has won the Tall Buildings category in the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Awards. Recognizing unbuilt or incomplete projects, the awards take place at MIPIM, the annual international property market attended by the world’s most influential property professionals...more

Jan 30, London

It's the dream of a former rag-trade baron, designed by Renzo Piano and financed by Qatar. And the Shard, even in its incomplete state, is already dominating London's skyline. It is the tallest building in Britain, even in its far-from-finished state. It is fast becoming London's, and the country's, most conspicuous monument...more

Jan 29, Los Angeles

Builder Jerry Snyder plans to break ground summer 2011 on a 464-unit complex at Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, where he had announced his intention to build a vertical retail mall. The plan calls for two towers of 25 and 30 stories. The recession killed that development, he said, but the apartment market is "very strong" and will soon be ready for new units...more

Jan 27, Ottawa

A skyscraper planned for Little Italy could lead to other sweeping changes in the neighborhood. Preston Street could become the home of one of the city’s tallest buildings if a developer is given approval for a 35-story condo tower proposed for a vacant lot at the corner of Sidney Street...more

Jan 27, Calgary

Nuera consists of twin 34-story towers in the Beltline area. The project features units with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, along with architecture whose elegant design is more akin to a modern business building than a residential highrise. The 512 sky suites offer open floor plans with functional designs. With all the glass, there is plenty of natural light during the day and good views at night...more

Jan 27, Boston

Two of the best buildings in Greater Boston have been honored with two architectural prizes. The John Hancock Tower is winner of the prestigious Twenty-Five Year Award. That honor is given to just one American work of architecture each year, a building that’s been around for at least a quarter century and proved its merit over time...more

Jan 27, Cleveland

With help from Chicago architects, federal officials unveiled an innovative design that leave the exterior of Cleveland's aging federal building in place and wrap a new metal and glass skin around it. This type of design, known as a "double wall," is expected to cut energy costs and give the stolid steel-and-glass building a fresh skyline identity, making its appearance change constantly in the light...more

Jan 27

Experts inside and outside the profession discuss some of the critical issues architects will face in the next 10 years—from reinventing suburbia and expanding urban infrastructure to exploring new materials and leveraging new technologies...more

Jan 27, Hanoi

Hanoi is to receive a highly sustainable urban district courtesy of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill following an international competition for the Green Tech City project, instigated by Blenheim Properties. The masterplan drawn up by SOM intertwines elements of local culture and urban heritage with state of the art design methods which aim to reduce the demand for non-renewable resources...more

Jan 27, China

City planners in south China have laid out an ambitious plan to merge together the nine cities that lie around the Pearl River Delta. The "Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One" scheme will create a 16,000 sq mile urban area that is 26 times larger geographically than Greater London, or twice the size of Wales...more

Jan 27, London

Work has started again on Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners’ £340 million Cheesegrater tower in the City after a string of delays. Contractors are back on site and pressing ahead with piling works which will underpin the tapering 47-story Leadenhall building. The news follows the deal struck between developer British Land and one of North America’s largest commercial real estate investors, Oxford Properties, to develop the 224m-tall building...more

Jan 26, Paris

Paris is reviewing its ambitions of “greatness”. However, within a country where speed is not necessarily a condition of efficiency, and where “quality of life” is elevated to “the art of living”, a purely geographic and territorial expansion based upon the American model is unfeasible.
At the outset, we imagined the tower from an initial volume, which we considered a “spatial texture”...more

Jan 26

History keeps disproving predictions that the supertall skyscraper, as a developer’s building type, was destroyed when the two 110-story towers of New York City’s World Trade Center went down. Last year alone, 66 towers taller than 200 meters opened their doors, breaking the 2007 record of 48. Of these, eight are taller than 300 m...more

Jan 25, Mumbai

Believing that even the most glamorous and dynamic cities have their share of problems, students of the premier Veer Jijamata Technological Institute (VJTI) in Matunga have sought to find engineering solutions to common and long-standing problems plaguing cities, including Mumbai...more

Jan 25, Dallas

One of Dallas’ most successful real estate projects is up for sale. The One Arts Plaza building in downtown’s Arts District has been considered a prototype for high-rise mixed-use development since it opened in 2007. Project owner Billingsley Co. has decided to sell the Flora Street tower of One Arts Plaza...more

Jan 25

CTBUH Member Dan M. Frangopol, currently serving in the inaugural position of the Fazlur R. Khan Endowed Chair of Structural Engineering and Architecture at Lehigh University, was named a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). ASCE’s highest accolade, distinguished membership recognizes eminence in a branch of engineering...more

Jan 25, New York

Quadriad Realty met with the leadership of the Manhattan Times to discuss its plans to build either two or four residential towers on Broadway and Fairview Avenue to the east and W. 190th Street to the west. Quadriad president Henry Wollman explained his interest in pursuing one of two options, either of which would dramatically transform Northern Manhattan’s skyline...more

Jan 24, New York

Few would argue that Ismael Leyva's sliver glass skyscraper at 785 Eighth Ave. fits in with its neighbors. Soaring 43 stories, the building ruptures the grim composure of a low-rise block that, with its boarded-up windows and live adult videos, evokes pre-Giuliani Times Square. That's another way of saying, sometimes contextualism is overrated...more