Beijing-based MAD Architects have completed their Absolut Towers (nicknamed ‘Marilyn Monroe Towers’ by the locals owing to their curvaceous shapes) in Mississauga, Canada. The two residential towers (one of 56 stories and the other is 50) are located at the junction of two main streets. They feature a continuous balcony that surrounds the whole building, eliminating the vertical barriers traditionally used in high-rise architecture. The entire building rotates by different degrees at different levels, corresponding with the surrounding scenery and providing 360 degree views of nature for each residential unit. The project was recently awarded the best new building in the Americas by the Council of Tall Buildings and Habitat (CTBUH).

The Evergrande Tower, designed by UK architecture firm Terry Farrell and Partners, has started construction in the central business district of Jinan, the capital of China’s Shandong province. The tower, which comes with a building price tag of approximately 25 billion Yuan (or 4 billion USD), will contain apartments, offices, and entertainment and retail spaces. When completed, the Evergrande Tower will stand at 560 metres and will be China’s second tallest skyscraper after the Shanghai Tower by Gensler Architects (due to be complete in 2014).

Architect Daniel Libeskind has completed ‘The Reflections at Keppel Bay’, a series of aluminium-clad residential towers in Keppel Harbor, Singapore. This is Libeskind’s first residential project in Asia, and his largest completed residential project to date. The six glazed curved towers, that range between 24 and 41 floors feature rooftop gardens and are connected to one another by elevated bridges. The development also includes 11 low-rise villa apartment blocks that range between 6 and 8 floors. Overall, the two-million-square-foot residential development comprises a total of 1,129 units.

Copenhagen-based architecture studio BIG have unveiled designs for a structurally innovative residential tower which will become an elegant gateway to the city of Vancouver, Canada. Named after the site streets where it will be built, at 150 metres high, ‘Beach + Howe Tower’ will be the city’s fourth tallest building. The tower addresses the requirements of a challenging site that is divided by the Granville overpass, and the need to integrate high and low-rise structures into the odd-shaped lots that have been produced by the roads and the imposed city building codes. To address these criteria, and to keep a minimum 30-meter clearance of to the infrastructure, BIG have devised a 49-storey building with a slender base that widens to the top. A nine-storey podium accommodating offices, shops and restaurants is accessible by a public plaza under the large concrete supports of the overpass. Above this structure, and by resorting to a twisting structure, the tower’s 600 residential units manage to avoid noise and pollution while securing views of the ocean and surrounding mountains.

The practice is now celebrating having been granted ‘Permis de Construire’ for the Hermitage Plaza in Paris. The project will comprise two 320-metre-high buildings (the tallest mixed-use towers in Western Europe) and is expected to create a new community in Courbevoie, to the east of La Défense, that extends down to the river Seine with cafés, shops and a public plaza at its heart. The result of a close collaboration with the planning authorities (EPAD, the City of Courbevoie, Atelier de Paysage Urbain and Département de Hauts-de-Seine), the project is intended to inject life into the area east of La Défense by creating a sustainable, high-density community. The two towers accommodate a hotel, spa, panoramic apartments, offices and serviced apartments, as well as shops at the base. The buildings face one another at ground level. Open and permeable to encourage people to walk through the site, the towers enclose a public piazza (created by burying the existing busy road beneath a landscaped deck) lined with new cafés and restaurants. As they rise from an interlocking diamond-shaped plan, the towers turn outward to address views across Paris. The angle of the façade panels promotes self-shading while vents can be opened to draw fresh air inside, contributing to an environmental strategy that targets a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating. At the same time, the diagrid structure uses less steel and emphasises the proportions of the towers.

Commissioned by South Korean developer DreamHub, the Yongsan International Business District is an ambitious new hub of commercial and residential buildings in Seoul masterplanned by architect Daniel Libeskind. The project, with expected completion in 2024, will include skyscrapers for business, leisure and living purposes by a number of renowned international architects including Renzo Piano, BIG, MVRDV, Murphy Jahn, REX, Dominique Perrault, Tange Associates, SOM and Libeskind himself. Herewith, a few images of the designs that have been proposed so far.

Architecture firm Foster + Partners have unveiled images of Jameson House, a new 35-storey mixed-use tower in the heart of Vancouver and the practice’s first in Canada. Completed at the end of last year and almost fully occupied at present, the project combines the restoration of heritage buildings with new construction. The scheme integrates two 1920s Beaux Arts structures: the entire internal double-height volume of the A-listed Ceperley Rounsfell Building (which has been returned to its original configuration) and the B-listed Royal Financial Building (whose façade has been retained). The development comprises 11 storeys of offices and shops, topped by 23 storeys of apartments.The tower’s form articulates these different functions: the first two storeys continue the row of shop units at street level, while the uppermost office floor aligns with the cornice line of the adjacent building. Contrasting with the flush façade of the offices, the residential floors curve outwards in four wide bays, which are staggered to allow daylight to reach neighbouring buildings and oriented to provide uninterrupted views of the landscape. The tower’s flexible plan supports a variety of apartment types, with interiors by Foster + Partners and living spaces in the deep curve of the window bays. At the top of the tower are two-storey penthouse apartments and landscaped roof terraces.

Chicago architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill (AS+GG) have released the first images for the Kingdom Tower, set to be the world’s tallest building. At over 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) and a total construction area of 530,000 square meters (5.7 million square feet), the Kingdom Tower will be the centre piece and first construction phase of the Kingdom City development on a 5.3 million-square-meter site in north Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The tower’s height will be at least 173 meters (568 feet) taller than the world’s current tallest building, Dubai’s 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa, which was designed by Adrian Smith while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Kingdom Tower will feature a Four Seasons hotel, office space, luxury apartments and the world’s highest observatory. Design development of the tower is under way, with construction expected to begin imminently. Foundation drawings are complete and the piling for the tower is currently being tendered. The tower will cost approximately $1.2 billion to construct, while the cost of the entire Kingdom City project is anticipated to be $20 billion. In addition to its status as an architectural landmark and economic symbol, the Kingdom Tower was conceived to have cultural significance. The tower is envisioned as a new marker of Jeddah’s historic importance as the traditional gateway to the holy city of Mecca. To this end, the design of the southeast leg of the Kingdom Tower’s tripedal base is on a direct line with the Ka’ba in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site. Architect Gordon Gill has described the streamlined form of the tower as being inspired by the folded fronds of young desert plant growth: “The way the fronds sprout upward from the ground as a single form, then start separating from each other at the top, is an analogy of new growth fused with technology.” The three-petal footprint is also believed to be ideal for residential units, and the tapering wings are expected to produce an aerodynamic shape that helps reduce structural loading due to wind vortex shedding. The immense height of the Kingdom Tower will require one of the world’s most sophisticated elevator systems. The complex will contain 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck elevators, along with 12 escalators. Elevators serving the observatory will travel at a rate of 10 meters per second in both directions. Another feature of the design is a sky terrace, roughly 30 meters (98 feet) in diameter, at level 157. AS+GG also designed the master plan for the 23-hectare Kingdom Tower Waterfront District, which surrounds the tower and which will include residential and commercial buildings, a shopping mall, outdoor spaces and other amenities.

Frank Gehry’s latest skyscraper, the residential tower simply branded as ‘New York by Gehry’, is now reaching completion. As its first residents get ready to move in, the building, located at 8 Spruce Street in Lower Manhattan, has already made a significant impact on the architectural landscape of New York City. At 265 metre (870 feet) tall, New York by Gehry is the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth tallest building in New York. The stainless steel exterior, with its seductive rippling effect, covers three faces of the tower and creates bay windows for the apartments. At the same time, it reflects the changing light, transforming the appearance of the building throughout the day. The tower contains 903 apartments laid out in over 200 floor plans for studios, and one, two and three-bedroom residences. Gehry’s aesthetic is also carried across the 22,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity spaces with personalized furnishings and installations. Frank Gehry is widely regarded as one of the most celebrated practicing architects in the world. He has been the recipient of numerous awards recognizing excellence in architecture, including, in 1989, the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, which honours “significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.” Over the past five decades, Gehry Partners LLP has designed numerous public and private buildings in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Phabrik is delighted to reveal to you the first photos of Guangzhou’s new Opera House, designed by Zaha Hadid and partner Patrik Schumacher of Zaha Hadid Architects, one of the most outstanding architectural firms in the world (www.zaha-hadid.com). As the building nears completion, the 70,000 m2 complex intends to revitalise the city’s cultural life and establish a close relationship with the Pearl River named so for its pearl coloured shells that lie on the river bed in the section that flows through Guangzhou. The project is made up of two main areas covered in a triangulated skin of concrete, glass, and steel. Internally, the different and numerous levels of the building provide views of the main atrium space. In addition to the 1,800 seat main auditorium, the complex hosts a multifunction hall, and a number of auxiliary facilities and support premises. The Opera House is the first step of the local government to enhance the city and the quality of life of its inhabitants by opening access to the riverside and dock, and it intends to be an iconic architectural gateway to the city, to China and to Asia.