Oricon Tower project by Eduardo Souto de Moura and OODA. Exterior render. Image Courtesy of Plomp
Eduardo Souto de Moura and OODA have unveiled the design of the Oricon Tower, a 180-meter mixed-use skyscraper planned for Tirana, Albania. Located near OODA's recently completed Bond Tower, the project is part of the city's ongoing transformation under the Tirana 2030 Masterplan, which envisions a denser and more connected urban core. The tower will house offices, residences, retail areas, and a hotel, contributing to the city's evolving skyline and serving as a new urban gateway between Tirana's historic center and its expanding western districts.
Houhai Hybrid Campus design. Render. Image Courtesy of Büro Ole Scheeren
The international firm Büro Ole Scheeren has unveiled images of the Houhai Hybrid Campus, a new urban complex in Shenzhen's Houhai district. The development is situated in a strategic area within the original Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ), bridging the city's commercial center and its bayfront. The release of the Hybrid Campus images coincided with the 45th anniversary of Shenzhen's designation as a Special Economic Zone, a milestone marking the city's transformation from a fishing village into a global innovation hub. Currently under construction, the Hybrid Campus integrates work, living, culture, commerce, leisure, recreation, and nature into a unified urban complex, scheduled to open in late 2026.
The proposed mixed-use tower at 175 Third Street is the fifth building planned across four sites within the Gowanus Wharf development in Brooklyn, New York. With views toward Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, the 1,080,000 sq ft proposal includes affordable housing, retail and artist spaces, fitness areas, social and entertainment spaces, culminating in a rooftop with lounging zones and an outdoor pool. The project also envisions a 28,000-sq-ft public waterfront esplanade designed by Field Operations, intended to contribute to the ecological rehabilitation of the Gowanus Canal, continuing the broader transformation of this industrial neighborhood. Other project collaborators include dencityworks | architecture, AKRF, bucharest.studio, DeSimone, Ettinger Engineering Associates, Fried Frank, Hatfield Group, Impact Environmental, and Jenkins and Huntington.
Foster + Partners has revealed the design of a new 54-story mixed-use tower to take shape in Miami. Set to become the new headquarters for the hedge fund Citadel, the tower is expected to feature 34 floors of office space and 212 hotel rooms on its upper levels, in addition to supporting retail spaces. In addition to Foster + Partners listed as the design architect, AAI Architects is the architect of record, and Field Operations is the landscape architect. The tower is expected to break ground in 2025, according to Citadel.
American architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), in collaboration with Mexico City-based Estudio AMA and interior designer Esrawe Studio, has revealed a new 190-meter-tall mixed-use tower in Guadalajara, Mexico. The new addition, which broke ground on May 24, is slanted to become the tallest building in the Andares Zapopan district of the city, offering residential units, hotel rooms, and various amenities.
Foster + Partners, led by Norman Foster, has revealed designs for a new “vertical creative office” campus on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, overlooking Hollywood. Developed by real estate firm The Star LLC, the tower is wrapped in spiraling gardens, giving the project its distinctive image and introducing generous outdoor areas throughout. Dubbed “The Star,” the project strives to use active and passive design strategies to bring a welcoming and comfortable space for all future users.
OODA has released images of Hora Vertikale, a new project planned for the Albanian capital city incorporating residential units arranged vertically surrounded by a new park and featuring a diverse range of amenities. The design stacks seven types of cubes, each measuring seven stories in height and defined by a distinct visual identity inspired by both urban and rural elements. The project, developed in collaboration with local architects Artech, has received planning permission, and construction is expected to begin in early spring.
Designed by Powerhouse Company, the BaanTower has started construction in the remodeled Baan Quarter neighborhood of Rotterdam. The residential tower strives to promote a sustainable architecture based on the well-being of its residents. Upon completion, the high-rise will house 427 apartments available for rent. Seven years after the original draft, the project has recently received its building permit, and is expected to be completed by 2026.
A new set of images showcases BIG's One High Line development nearing completion. Located on the ‘Architecture Row’ in New York, the coupled twisting towers share the Hudson River skyline with neighbors such as Frank Gehry’s IAC building, Renzo Piano’s Whitney Museum of American Art, and Jean Nouvel’s The Chelsea Nouvel ('100 Eleventh Avenue'), along with future works by Thomas Heatherwick and other renown architects. The two condominium towers designed by BIG are organized to define a central public courtyard, activating the public space with retail and commercial facilities. The towers’ exterior and the majority of the interior are completed, with the courtyard expected to be finished by early 2024.
On a site that also hosts the Olympic Sports Centre, the 2023 Asian Games complex, UNStudio has unveiled the design of the new Hiwell Amber Centre, a complex of four high-rise towers planned to add a mix of offices, apartments, hotels, art spaces and retail to the city center of Hangzhou, China. Responding to the area’s rapid economic and cultural growth, the new development aims to provide a wide range of services to residents and visitors alike. To open up towards the city, the smooth glass curtain wall of the towers peels apart to reveal a tapestry-like facade that envelops the main plazas and civic spaces, creating an ‘urban living room.’
UNStudio has been selected as the winner of the international competition for the design of a mixed-use development in Düsseldorf, Germany, surpassing other internationally recognized participant offices, including 3XN, BIG, David Chipperfield Architect, and finalists Hadi Teherani Architects, HPP Architekten, and Ingenhoven. UNStudio’s proposal features two mixed-use towers measuring up to 120 meters, surrounded by a low-rise community pavilion. In addition to the office and residential spaces, the scheme also includes multifunctional uses and services such as sports, fitness, medical facilities, gastronomy spaces, a mobility hub, a daycare center, and opportunities for cultural events.
Mario Cucinella Architects has unveiled the design for the new Piazza dei Navigatori in Rome, Italy. Planned as a mixed-use development, the design is predominantly for residential spaces, with a retail and office component, parking, and "plant rooms". The development is located in an area rich in natural elements, which heavily inspires this urban agglomeration.
Mario Cucinella Architects has started constructing two multifunctional towers to shape Vienna’s skyline. Situated in the 2nd district in Vienna, where a dynamic urban development “Viertel Zwei”, has been in the works for some time, the project consists of two highrises, both of different architectural languages and made for different purposes, together providing a complex urban image inserted into context.
BIG has won a proposal to design a 300 m tall residential tower and a 250 m tall office tower for the Guiwan district, located in the metropolitan city of Qianhai, what is most commonly known as the international finance city of China. Part of the new development plan for Qianhai Bay, the Prisma Towers aim to transform the greater bay area. The project will include workspaces, residences, and 20,000m2 of leveled public spaces.
Architecture office RSHP has unveiled the design for the Shenzhen - Hong Kong Innovation Integrated Service Centre, a 45-storey tower in the Futian Free Trade Zone in south Shenzhen. The building features an integrated floating podium which provides spaces for retail, cultural events, and green roof gardens. It also connects to the existing metro station and articulates the street-level plaza. The design results from a negotiation between two distinct briefs asking for a tower and a mixed-use podium on neighboring plots. RSHP’s proposal was to merge the briefs by integrating the podium into the south side of the tower, thus creating a distinct identity and creating a better relationship with the surrounding public space.
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group has released a photo series of the Vancouver House and the Telus Sky towers, captured for the first time since their opening in 2020 during the pandemic. In a sort of "yin and yang," both skyscrapers are shaped by a curvilinear silhouette that involves the surrounding like a giant curtain revealing the building to the skyline.
The 220-meter-tall Telus Sky tower, and the 149 meters high Vancouver House, accommodate mixed-use offices and residential spaces, with connections to cycling and pedestrian pathways in their platforms. Moreover, both hold the highest level of Energy and Environmental Design. Vancouver House is the city's first LEED Platinum building, and TELUS in Calgary now occupies the largest LEED Platinum footprint in North America, with 70,725 square meters.
German-based architecture firm OMT designed Africa's tallest hybrid timber tower in Zanzibar City, Tanzania. In partnership with Birk Heilmeyer Frenzel Architects, engineering firm Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineers, and CPS Developers, the "Burj Zanzibar" will rise 96 meters tall to accommodate 266 residences and recreational and conferencing facilities. The mixed-use tower will promote the locally available wood and support the growing urban infrastructure that, according to the government plans, expects to attract tech companies to turn the island into a leading hub for Africa's technology companies.
