The 10 Next Hot Skyscrapers You Won’t Find in Dubai
When it comes to tall buildings, all eyes are on the Burj Dubai. That’s because this month it became the tallest structure in the world—and it’s not even done yet. But across the world architects have already come up with mega engineering plans vying to be equally mind-blowing. From shortest to tallest, here are our favorite 10 favorite skyscrapers under construction whose radical designs and eco-friendly architecture make up for a lack of height.
By Kevin Hall
The Bow
Where: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Designer: Foster + Partners
Height: 774 feet
Floors: 58
Estimated Completion:2011The Bow gets its name from the tower’s unique, curving shape. When it’s completed it will be Calgary’s first steel skyscraper, which means it’ll use significantly less material, as a steel frame does away with the need for a multitude of weaker supports built into load-bearing walls. It will also be Calgary’s tallest building, and the green-minded team at Fosters and Partners built it to be environmentally sustainable. Three sky lobbies spaced about 18 floors apart divide it into three zones for business, shopping and leisure, and a southward atrium spans the entirety of the Bow’s facade, which will expose the inside to plenty of sun and help warm it during Canadian winters. Energy is also saved by the amount of light the Bow’s heavily-windowed structure lets in, meaning more natural illumination and less of the artificial stuff.
Designer: Foster + Partners
Height: 774 feet
Floors: 58
Estimated Completion:2011The Bow gets its name from the tower’s unique, curving shape. When it’s completed it will be Calgary’s first steel skyscraper, which means it’ll use significantly less material, as a steel frame does away with the need for a multitude of weaker supports built into load-bearing walls. It will also be Calgary’s tallest building, and the green-minded team at Fosters and Partners built it to be environmentally sustainable. Three sky lobbies spaced about 18 floors apart divide it into three zones for business, shopping and leisure, and a southward atrium spans the entirety of the Bow’s facade, which will expose the inside to plenty of sun and help warm it during Canadian winters. Energy is also saved by the amount of light the Bow’s heavily-windowed structure lets in, meaning more natural illumination and less of the artificial stuff.
9. Beekman Tower
Where: New York
Designer: Frank Gehry
Height: 867 feet
Floors: 76
Estimated Completion:2011The Beekman Tower looks astonishingly mundane next to some of Frank Gehry’s signature creations (just take a gander at his warped—and awesome—Dancing Housein Prague). That is until you notice the little details. The Beekman Tower’s stainless-steel surface ripples in a pleasant way thanks to the cascading layers of its staggered units. The curving of the exterior will make for irregular floors, and no two if its stories will be exactly the same.Its facade is not its only charming quirk: It’s being built upon a 6-story, brick public school that’ll offer Pre-K through the 8th grade. The tower itself will house retail space, offices for the nearby New York Downtown Hospital and plenty of apartments of different sizes. Things are more staid inside, though. While Gehry designed the building’s exterior, he didn’t touch the interiors: “I don’t like architecture that intrudes on lifestyle,” Gehry told The Real Deal. “The generation of architects] before me used to design everything, and I don’t like that.”
Designer: Frank Gehry
Height: 867 feet
Floors: 76
Estimated Completion:2011The Beekman Tower looks astonishingly mundane next to some of Frank Gehry’s signature creations (just take a gander at his warped—and awesome—Dancing Housein Prague). That is until you notice the little details. The Beekman Tower’s stainless-steel surface ripples in a pleasant way thanks to the cascading layers of its staggered units. The curving of the exterior will make for irregular floors, and no two if its stories will be exactly the same.Its facade is not its only charming quirk: It’s being built upon a 6-story, brick public school that’ll offer Pre-K through the 8th grade. The tower itself will house retail space, offices for the nearby New York Downtown Hospital and plenty of apartments of different sizes. Things are more staid inside, though. While Gehry designed the building’s exterior, he didn’t touch the interiors: “I don’t like architecture that intrudes on lifestyle,” Gehry told The Real Deal. “The generation of architects] before me used to design everything, and I don’t like that.”
8. Tower Verre (53 W. 53rd)
Where: New York Designer: Jean Nouvel
Height: 1,155 feet
Floors: 75
Estimated Completion:2012When the Tower Verre was first proposed, it faced considerable opposition from Manhattanitesbecause of its radical, angular design and the fact that it’d top the height of the 1046-foot-tall Chrysler Building. The Hines real estate firm has since gained approval for the building’s air rights and construction on the steel-and-glass monolith is slated to begin next year.When complete, the skyscraper will include gallery space that will serve as an expansion to New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, with luxury apartments and hotel rooms on its uppermost floors. With the building’s diamond-sharp twin spires, some argue that it will serve as an addition to the MoMA’s collection as well.
Height: 1,155 feet
Floors: 75
Estimated Completion:2012When the Tower Verre was first proposed, it faced considerable opposition from Manhattanitesbecause of its radical, angular design and the fact that it’d top the height of the 1046-foot-tall Chrysler Building. The Hines real estate firm has since gained approval for the building’s air rights and construction on the steel-and-glass monolith is slated to begin next year.When complete, the skyscraper will include gallery space that will serve as an expansion to New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, with luxury apartments and hotel rooms on its uppermost floors. With the building’s diamond-sharp twin spires, some argue that it will serve as an addition to the MoMA’s collection as well.
7. Sinosteel International Plaza
Where: Tianjing, China
Designer: MAD
Height: 1,174 feet
Floors: N/A
Estimated Completion:2012What may look likea sick joke to reinforce the image of office workers as “busy bees” is actually the Sinosteel International Plaza’s coolest feature. It’s honeycomb exterior serves it in two key ways: As its load-bearing structure, and to help regulate the amount of light and heat enters the building. By using an alternating pattern of five different-size hexagonal windows, the Plaza’s rooms will get plenty of sun while maintaining a comfortable temperature with less need for cooling in the summer and not as much heat loss in the winter. Alleviating the strain of cooling and heating a building several hundred feet tall will lower the building’s energy costs significantly. Also, since the honeycomb structure acts as the building’s support, that means there’s no need for extensive internal infrastructure, giving more floor space over to other uses.The Sinosteel International Plaza will be built next to a 288-foot-tall residential complex that utilizes the same honeycomb exterior.
Designer: MAD
Height: 1,174 feet
Floors: N/A
Estimated Completion:2012What may look likea sick joke to reinforce the image of office workers as “busy bees” is actually the Sinosteel International Plaza’s coolest feature. It’s honeycomb exterior serves it in two key ways: As its load-bearing structure, and to help regulate the amount of light and heat enters the building. By using an alternating pattern of five different-size hexagonal windows, the Plaza’s rooms will get plenty of sun while maintaining a comfortable temperature with less need for cooling in the summer and not as much heat loss in the winter. Alleviating the strain of cooling and heating a building several hundred feet tall will lower the building’s energy costs significantly. Also, since the honeycomb structure acts as the building’s support, that means there’s no need for extensive internal infrastructure, giving more floor space over to other uses.The Sinosteel International Plaza will be built next to a 288-foot-tall residential complex that utilizes the same honeycomb exterior.
6. Al Hamra Tower
Where: Kuwait City, Kuwait
Designer: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Height: 1,352 feet
Floors: 77 (and 3 floors underground)
Estimated Completion:2009Anyone whose office hasa window in the Al Hamra Tower will have a room with a view: The tower looks out over the whole of Kuwait City, as well as the Arabian Gulf. Looking at the tower from the outside will also offer quite the sight, as it’s curving, veil-like “carved” shape is unlike any other skyscraper in its height range.The Al Hamra Tower comes from a fine pedigree, as it’s designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the architecture firm behind the Burj Dubai. It’ll serve the city as an office building, accompanied by a five-story shopping plaza at its base with an 11-story parking garage that bridges to both the mall and tower. Just like the Bow, Al Hamra Tower is split into three zones by sky lobbies. When it’s done, it’ll be the tallest building in Kuwait City.
Designer: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Height: 1,352 feet
Floors: 77 (and 3 floors underground)
Estimated Completion:2009Anyone whose office hasa window in the Al Hamra Tower will have a room with a view: The tower looks out over the whole of Kuwait City, as well as the Arabian Gulf. Looking at the tower from the outside will also offer quite the sight, as it’s curving, veil-like “carved” shape is unlike any other skyscraper in its height range.The Al Hamra Tower comes from a fine pedigree, as it’s designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the architecture firm behind the Burj Dubai. It’ll serve the city as an office building, accompanied by a five-story shopping plaza at its base with an 11-story parking garage that bridges to both the mall and tower. Just like the Bow, Al Hamra Tower is split into three zones by sky lobbies. When it’s done, it’ll be the tallest building in Kuwait City.
5. Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower
Where: Guangzhou, China Designer: Information Based Architecture
Height: 1,489 feet (2,001 feet measured by its needle)
Floors: 37 (and 2 floors underground)
Estimated Completion:2009The Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower arrives hot on the heels of China’s Birds Nest, recently completed for the 2008 Olympic Games. Measured from its base to its needle, which juts out over 500 ft. above the structure’s roof, the tower will stand an estimated 2001 ft. That’ll make it the third tallest structure in the world, trailing behind the Burj Dubai and the KVLY-TV transmitting mastin Blanchard, North Dakota.The Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower is a hyperboloid structure, meaning it draws its structural integrity from its shape, as an arch of an aqueduct or bridge does. At both its waist and the roof are open-air observation decks, and its scant 37 floors will be packed with revolving restaurants, art spaces, conferences halls, shops, a movie theater and, as its name suggests, broadcasting facilities.
Height: 1,489 feet (2,001 feet measured by its needle)
Floors: 37 (and 2 floors underground)
Estimated Completion:2009The Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower arrives hot on the heels of China’s Birds Nest, recently completed for the 2008 Olympic Games. Measured from its base to its needle, which juts out over 500 ft. above the structure’s roof, the tower will stand an estimated 2001 ft. That’ll make it the third tallest structure in the world, trailing behind the Burj Dubai and the KVLY-TV transmitting mastin Blanchard, North Dakota.The Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower is a hyperboloid structure, meaning it draws its structural integrity from its shape, as an arch of an aqueduct or bridge does. At both its waist and the roof are open-air observation decks, and its scant 37 floors will be packed with revolving restaurants, art spaces, conferences halls, shops, a movie theater and, as its name suggests, broadcasting facilities.
4. International Commerce Centre
Where: West Kowloon, Hong Kong
Designer: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Height: 1,608 feet
Floors: 118
Estimated Completion:2010How do you know your skyscraper is tall? When you have to shorten it because it violates regulations that don’t permit towers to be taller than surrounding mountains. That’s what happened to the International Commerce Centre: It was originally proposed to stand nearly 1900 ft., but had to be trimmed down to 1608 ft. to fall within regulations. It’ll still be the tallest building in Hong Kong when it’s complete, though not in all of China.A full shopping mall inside the tower’s basement is already in use. When the rest of the tower is done, it will house space for offices and hotel rooms. And not just any hotel: The Ritz-Carlton will have its entry lobby at 1400 ft. above the ground, making it the highest hotel in the world.
Designer: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Height: 1,608 feet
Floors: 118
Estimated Completion:2010How do you know your skyscraper is tall? When you have to shorten it because it violates regulations that don’t permit towers to be taller than surrounding mountains. That’s what happened to the International Commerce Centre: It was originally proposed to stand nearly 1900 ft., but had to be trimmed down to 1608 ft. to fall within regulations. It’ll still be the tallest building in Hong Kong when it’s complete, though not in all of China.A full shopping mall inside the tower’s basement is already in use. When the rest of the tower is done, it will house space for offices and hotel rooms. And not just any hotel: The Ritz-Carlton will have its entry lobby at 1400 ft. above the ground, making it the highest hotel in the world.
3. Federation Tower
Where: Moscow, Russia
Designer: NPS Tchoban Voss
Height: 1,660 feet
Floors: 93
Estimated Completion:2009The Federation Tower’sdistinct look is fashioned after the sails of a ship, and it’s actually two towers, the 1660-foot East Tower and 795-foot-tall West, connected by several walkways. The taller East tower will be for offices, while the western one will be a hotel and apartments, both topped with 360-degree observation decks.The building stands less than two and half miles away from the Kremlin, and when it’s done it’ll be the tallest building in all of Europe.
Designer: NPS Tchoban Voss
Height: 1,660 feet
Floors: 93
Estimated Completion:2009The Federation Tower’sdistinct look is fashioned after the sails of a ship, and it’s actually two towers, the 1660-foot East Tower and 795-foot-tall West, connected by several walkways. The taller East tower will be for offices, while the western one will be a hotel and apartments, both topped with 360-degree observation decks.The building stands less than two and half miles away from the Kremlin, and when it’s done it’ll be the tallest building in all of Europe.
2. Chicago Spire
Where: Chicago, Illinois
Designer: Santiago Calatrava
Height: 2,000 feet
Floors: 150
Estimated Completion:2012Chicago’s 1730-foot-tall Sears Towerhas enjoyed the title of tallest building in all of North America since 1973. It’ll lose that title by 300 ft. with the completion of the twisty, turny, environmentally sustainable Chicago Spire.Architect Santiago Calatrava, who designed the 2004 Olympic Games complex in Athens and the Turning Torso Tower in Sweden, is going for gold in Chicago:The gold of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification that measures green design. To nail its targeted “gold”, the Spire has an impressive list of Mother Nature-approved features: recycled rainwater to care for the landscaping, river water to help cool the building, a storage area for hundreds of bicycles, special glass to ward off migrating birds, planned park spaces and an underground parking structure that’ll help save energy because it won’t have to be air-conditioned.
Designer: Santiago Calatrava
Height: 2,000 feet
Floors: 150
Estimated Completion:2012Chicago’s 1730-foot-tall Sears Towerhas enjoyed the title of tallest building in all of North America since 1973. It’ll lose that title by 300 ft. with the completion of the twisty, turny, environmentally sustainable Chicago Spire.Architect Santiago Calatrava, who designed the 2004 Olympic Games complex in Athens and the Turning Torso Tower in Sweden, is going for gold in Chicago:The gold of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification that measures green design. To nail its targeted “gold”, the Spire has an impressive list of Mother Nature-approved features: recycled rainwater to care for the landscaping, river water to help cool the building, a storage area for hundreds of bicycles, special glass to ward off migrating birds, planned park spaces and an underground parking structure that’ll help save energy because it won’t have to be air-conditioned.
The Spire’s elegant, 2.44-degree twist rotates the building’s facade a full 360 degrees, making what could have looked very odd come off as entirely natural.
The woman with Europe’s largest fake breasts
Beshine currently holds the title of “Biggest Breasts in Europe” and though she started her boob od(d)yssey as a humble B cup, she’s now a mind boggling Z-cup, thanks to expander implants which she refills as regularly as she can.
The woman who spent over 15k on illegal butt and hips injection
A woman who spent approximately $15,000 on illegal butt and hip injections shed light on the secret world of black market cosmetic procedures in a new book. In a raw and honest account, Vanity Wonder, 30, a mother-of-two from America’s Midwest, has revealed how she became addicted to silicone shots to increase the size of her behind. “Shot Girls” details her own experiences of seeking out and having the injections, and how she became an assistant to a black market practitioner, who treated women from a 17-year-old brought in by her proud mother, to a senior in her seventies with bifocals and false teeth. (
The man who grew 6 in with painful surgery
A man in New York has “grown” over six inches through painful limb-lengthening surgeries intended to artificially increase his height. While the reason behind Apotheosis (his pseudonym) having undergone the surgery might be cosmetic, there are in fact numerous patients suffering from dwarfism or deformities who have and are currently going through the process of surgically lengthening their limbs.
The Russian woman who had over 100 lip injections
A woman desperate to look like Jessica Rabbit has won the dubious honour of being in possession of the world’s biggest lips after having 100 silicone injections. Kristina Rei, 22, was convinced her thin lips made her ugly so she opted to have them enlarged in the style of her favorite cartoon character, at a cost of more than £4,000.
The fake doctor arrested for injecting butt implants with Fix-a-flat
“Dr.” Oneal Morris has a very literal solution for patients looking to add a little junk to their trunks. She injected a woman looking to add a little more oomph to her caboose, with a solution made of cement, superglue, mineral oil, and Fix-A-Flat tire mender. Thirty-year-old Morris was arrested by Miami Gardens’ police.
The Russian Barbie who supposedly had her ribs removed to have a smaller waist
Valeria Lukyanova is the self-proclaimed “most famous woman on the Russian-language internet”. The 21 year-old Ukrainian first made a splash in her native Ukraine and neighboring Russia a few years back with her anime-style Barbie doll looks. After she first hit it big on the Russian-language internet, netizens started digging through her old social networking posts and profiles, cataloguing all the rumored surgeries she’d undergone—from nose jobs to rib removal. She certainly has a tiny waist. (
The woman who had concrete injected in her face by fake doctor
New pictures of an alleged victim of previously featured ‘fake doctor’ Oneal Ron Morris show the horrific damage to her face after it was injected with a toxic mixture of cement and tyre sealant. Rajee Narinesingh, 48, from Miami, Florida, says her face was ruined by Morris, who had just been released from custody after she was accused of administering the potentially lethal shots to another victim.
The man who underwent breast augmentation after a $ 100,000 bet
Guys, what would you do for a bet? Shave your eyebrows? Dye your hair? Get your nipple pierced? How about getting breast implants? No? Then frankly, you just aren’t the man that Brian Zembic is. In 1996, Brian Zembic took a bet for $100,000 that he wouldn’t keep a set of 38C breast implants in for a year. He did. The twist? He still has them…
BUSTED! (
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Nice children’s nickname! (
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What’s worse than sending a text to the wrong person? Sending to the wrong person TWICE! (
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Who knew such an ugly thing as cancer could look so beautiful under a microscope?
Think about this photo next time you’re on the beach.
Dare we say… this flea almost looks cute?
Beautiful!
Wow. Just… wow.
Photographed by Dr. María Prado-Figueroa, this image shows sections of a human brain, magnified 63 times. This image won an honorable mention in the 2010 contest. (
This image was taken by Shamuel Silberman and earned 15th place in the Nikon 2005 competition. (
Bubble Plastic Wrap Injected with Ink
This is the only image on our list which is not natural, but it’s so artistic that we had to include it.
Ant Head, Frontal View (10x)
Sweet dreams!
amazingtrivia 