Daniel Libeskind will visit Chile this coming December, following an invitation extended by Mauricio Soria, the mayor of Iquique, and approved by the Chilean city's municipal council. However, the decision has drawn coverage from local media due to opposition from council members who voted against the initiative, primarily over the budget: 75 million Chilean pesos (around $110,000), which includes a "city visit, site visit, public lecture, and a preliminary draft or conceptual proposal," as highlighted on Twitter by council member Felipe Arenas, one of the dissenting voices in the municipal vote.

Although the announcement was shared by the mayor's office on Twitter on November 8, efforts to bring Libeskind to the country began exactly a year ago when the architect visited Chile to give a lecture at ENMATERIA's International Architecture and Materials Encounter. During that visit, the American architect met for the first time with Soria and his technical team in Santiago.

This past year was a record-breaking season for skyscraper construction. According to a new survey by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), 2014 saw the completion of 97 buildings that were at least 200 meters tall. Of those, 11 were 300 meters or taller, earning them the classification of “supertall.” These are the highest figures on record, with 2011, for example, seeing only 87 200-meters-plus buildings completed.

In addition, in 2014 the total height of completed buildings (23,333 meters) broke the 2011 record of 19,852 meters. With major countries like China becoming increasingly urbanized, and the world economy recovering from recession, the CTBUH expects that these numbers will only increase. See the details of CTBUH’s report, and learn what the numbers may predict about the future of skyscraper construction, after the break.

Opening March 11, and on view until April 30, Rome’s Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery (Via del Portico d'Ottavia 7) will offer “Never Say the Eye Is Rigid:Architectural Drawings of Daniel Libeskind,” the city’s first exhibition of architectural drawings by the world-renowned architect. The exhibition includes 52 original drawings from eight diverse Libeskind projects in Germany, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom and the United States, including the architect’s signature work, the Jewish Museum Berlin (2001), and Memory Foundations, Ground Zero (2003), the master plan for the World Trade Center site. More information on the exhibition after the break.