Free Republic

A fire broke through the upper floors of an under-construction skyscraper in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong and spread to neighbouring buildings in the early hours of Friday (March 3). Debris falling from the burning construction site led to smaller blazes in adjacent structures which were quickly extinguished by emergency services, local media reported. In a public warning, the Hong Kong fire service department advised residents affected by the smoke to close their doors and windows, while local media reported that over 100 people living in the area were evacuated.

Overview development progress of PNB Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as of as September 2022.Progress of The World's Second Tallest | PNB Merdeka 118 MalaysiaSCM Southern Corridor Malaysia147K subscribers | 56,554 views | September 2, 2022

A fire has swept through the Torch skyscraper in Dubai, one of the tallest residential buildings in the world. Strong winds helped the blaze to spread across the 336.1m (1,105ft) high building in the marina district. One eyewitness told the BBC "there was debris flying everywhere, falling into neighbouring buildings". Later reports said the fire was under control. It is not known what caused the blaze. Hundreds of people were evacuated and there are no reports of any casualties. 'Like Titanic' Footage posted on social media showed what looked like molten glass and pieces of masonry falling down.

Plans are underway to build a MILE-HIGH skyscraper in Japan. If approved the huge tower would be the tallest building in the world, dwarfing the current record-holder, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai which is half as tall at 2,717ft (828m). Located in Tokyo Bay, an inlet southeast of the city proper, the plan - dubbed Next Tokyo - wouldn't just be a single massive building, but if approved would emerge as a mini city designed to combat climate change. Envisioned as part of Tokyo's effort to protect itself from rising tides, Next Tokyo would feature a chain of man-made,...

North Korea 'feeding workers crystal meth' to speed up skyscraper project By James Rothwell 10 August 2016 • 10:42am North Korean workers are being given a methamphetamine-based drug in the hope it will speed up a major construction project, according to reports. Project managers in the city's capital of Pyongyang are said to be under so much pressure to finish the job on time that they have resorted to openly providing builders with the drug. Nicknamed "ice," it is a form of the powerful stimulant methamphetamine, which is also known as crystal meth. When snorted or inhaled, crystal meth gives...

Now THAT’S loopy! Behold The Big Bend - the incredible U-shaped New York skyscraper dubbed the 'longest building in the world' is unveiled Oiio studio has unveiled designs for curved skyscraper 'The Big Bend' as solution to expensive zoning laws Manhattan tower was imagined as a structure to straddle Billionaire's Row on 57th Street in New York City Stretching 4,000ft-long, the glass-lined tower would need to feature an elevator that defies all current designs.

(full article title: Now THAT'S loopy! Behold The Big Bend - the incredible U-shaped New York skyscraper dubbed the 'longest building in the world' is unveiled) The race to build the world’s most spectacular skyscraper has reached new heights - and taken a turn in direction. Designs for ‘The Big Bend’, a slender tower that would transform Manhattan’s skyline, have been unveiled. Described as the ‘longest building in the world’, the project's concept drawings reveal a skyscraper reaching an apex then curving back down. And featuring an elevator system that can travel in curves, horizontally and in loops. In a...

Jared Kushner's family has unveiled that plans to erect a skyscraper on the New York City skyline at 666 Fifth Ave are now underway. The giant $7.5billion project is set to take over Kushner Properties' current Manhattan office at the address with plans to transform it into a 1,400ft tower adding 40 floors with retail shops, condominiums, and a hotel, The Wall Street Journal reported. It is also set to be renamed to 660 Fifth Ave.

Chicago developer unveiled drawings Tuesday for what could be the city’s sixth-tallest skyscraper and the third-tallest north of the Chicago River. To be built on what is now a parking lot across State Street from Holy Name Cathedral, the condominium and apartment tower could rise as high as 1,011 feet. To be clad in glass, metal and stone, it would have a thin, stepped-back profile that recalls 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the landmark Manhattan skyscraper that houses the headquarters of the NBC television network.(snip) Named One Chicago Square and projected to cost more than $700 million, the development would be bounded...

urope's tallest skyscraper is nearly finished. The Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg, Russia, now stands at 462m (1,516ft) tall – making it the 13th tallest building in the world. The 87-storey tower takes the title of the tallest building in Europe from Moscow's Federation Tower, which stands at 374m (1,227ft). The building's facade is made from 16,500 individual panes of glass that have been fitted with automatic shutters and valves in a bid to reduce heat loss.

A Japanese company is planning to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper with 90 percent of the building made of wood. Sumitomo Forestry says its wooden high-rise — dubbed the W350 — will be 350 meters tall and the planned structure will be a hybrid of mostly wood and steel. The 70-storey building, expected to be built in Tokyo, will comprise of stores, offices, hotels and private homes, the company noted in plans released earlier in February. Sumitomo Forestry, which notes on its website that "happiness grows from trees," said it aimed to create environmentally-friendly, timber-utilizing cities which "become forests...

River Beech Tower project, an 800-foot residential skyscraper that would be built almost entirely out of wood. Nor is it the only such effort. Similar plans are underway in London, Stockholm, and other cities. Eighteen-story buildings made of timber already exist in Vancouver and Minneapolis, while other structures have popped up in Norway and New Zealand. On the flip side, wood can sway too much, particularly in the wind — a major issue for taller buildings. For the River Beech Tower project, Snapp and his colleagues actually solved this problem by constructing the whole building out of triangle and diamond...

Frank Lloyd Wright originally proposed The Mile-High Illinois in the 1950s. Innovations in construction materials and elevators are necessary to reach the one mile height and beyond. We may see the first mile-high skyscraper by the middle of the 21st century. The undefeated champion of the skies right now is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 2,717 feet (roughly half a mile) and is the tallest building in the world. Although take that with a grain of dusty salt—only 1,916 feet of the Burj Dubai is occupiable space, the rest is vanity height, meaning nearly 800 feet is...

A Turkey-based architecture firm is proposing some big changes to the New York City skyline. The Sarcostyle Tower, designed by Hayri Atak Architectural Design, looks like no skyscraper on the face of the planet, with its curved, sloping design and sinuous curves. “Sarcostyle” is a filament that makes up striated muscle fiber, and it’s easy to see where the building gets its name, given its anatomically inspired form. Seesaws at U.S.-Mexico border win prestigious UK design prize According to Atak, one of the “impressive” effects of the building is “that it creates an image in the mind that is tangent...

One of China’s tallest skyscrapers was evacuated on Tuesday after it began to shake, sending panicked shoppers scampering to safety. The near 300 metre (980ft) high SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, southern China, inexplicably began to shake at around 1pm, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on open-mouthed. Bystander videos published by local media on Weibo showed the skyscraper shaking as hundreds of terrified pedestrians ran away outside. Building collapses are not rare in China, where lax building standards and breakneck urbanisation lead to constructions being thrown up in haste.

A high-rise sends residents and bystanders packing after it begins shaking and swaying without cause. No earthquakes or strong winds are reported in the region. But a 20-year-old research report might hold the answer. Apple plans to store its Chinese customers’ data inside China and is handing over the keys to a state-owned company. But Apple claims the information will still be safe.

CLICK ABOVE ARTICLE LINK FOR THE VIDEO In a jaw-dropping moment caught on camera, 15 high-rise buildings were obliterated simultaneously in China after sitting unfinished for eight years. In the country’s Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, the skyscrapers were destroyed into huge pile of dust. Now, video of the demolition is going viral, leaving netizens stunned while starting a serious conversation about country’s excessive and unplanned urbanisation projects. China’s state-run Xinhua News stated that 4.6 tons of explosives were placed at 85,000 blasting points in the buildings for the demolition. The report said the mission was successfully completed in...

A skyscraper of more than 70 storeys has been evacuated after it started to shake, sending shoppers scrambling for safety in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.Local authorities do not yet know what caused the 300m (980ft) SEG Plaza building to wobble on Tuesday afternoon.No earthquakes were recorded at the time. An investigation is under way.The 20-year-old building houses an electronics market and offices.It stands in the heart of Shenzhen, a sprawling city of more than 12 million people known for its shopping and booming tech industry.Footage shared on social media showed hundreds of people running away from the skyscraper...

These are the first concept pictures of a stunning new 1,000ft-high glass skyscraper featuring glass gondolas allowing visitors to ride on the outside. The building dubbed 'The Tulip', which is set to become London's second tallest structure behind The Shard, will have a 12-storey glass bud on top of a 787ft concrete shaft with eight floors of viewing platforms. The Tulip, which will have bars and restaurants inside to hold 1,500 people, will sit next to the Gherkin – the 590ft tower also known as 30 St Mary Axe which was designed in 2003 by the same architects, Foster +...

Apartments have gone on sale inside New York's newest Billionaires' Row skyscraper - with the cheapest studio rumored to cost well over $1million. Central Park Tower, also known as the Nordstrom Tower, has been under development since it was approved by city planners in 2014 and is due for completion next year. When finished, it is due to top out at 1,550ft - down from 1,775ft since a spire was removed from the design - and will have 101 stories, making it the tallest residential building in the world.