Mounib Hammoud, Jeddah Economic Company's (JEC) new CEO, has announced the completion of the piling work for the Kingdom Tower, set to be the future-tallest building in the world, upon completion in 2019. This achievement is considered to be the base of works over ground, according to a press release to Arab News from Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Last year Saudi BAUER Foundation Contractors Ltd. announced that it had signed a deal for the enabling works for Kingdom, the one-kilometer-tall tower planned for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has given the go ahead for the construction of the world's tallest tower in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah by signing a US$ 1.2 billion contract with Bin Laden Group on August 2, 2011. On July of this year the company "Broad Sustainable Building" hoping to build the world's tallest skyscraper in record time held a groundbreaking ceremony in Changsha, China. The company planned to build the 838-meter Sky City using its prefabricated modular construction method. But after several days the company announced, that the construction works stopped because of documents problems.

Angelina Jolie is splashing out around US$ 20 million to buy Brad Pitt a heart-shaped island. The film beauty visited stunning Petra last week and thought it would be a perfect 50th birthday gift for her superstar partner. Angelina, 38, was particularly excited after discovering its two homes were designed by Brad's favorite architect Frank Lloyd Wright. A source revealed: "As soon as Angelina heard the island was on the market she arranged a viewing. She was really impressed". "The house is perfect for romantic getaways or as a family retreat. It's very private. And Angelina knows the fact the island is in the shape of a heart will mean so much to him." Exclusive 11-acre Petra - which has a helicopter pad - is off the US coast 50 miles north of New York City. The cottage was put up in 1950, nine years before Wright's death. The main house was built in 2008 from a Wright plan and is one of his most spectacular designs. Boasting vast expanses of stone, cement, mahogany and skylights, it is a triumph of modern architecture and would be a perfect getaway for Brad and Angelina's children Maddox, 12, Pax, nine, Zahara, eight, Shiloh, seven, Vivienne and Knox, both five. Architect fanatic Brad, who turns 50 on December 18, once said: "When I discovered Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright, it changed my life." In 2006 Angelina took Brad on a tour of Wright's home Fallingwater which was completed in 1939. Cara Armstrong, Fallingwater's Curator of Education said: "He was incredibly well-informed about architecture. "Experiencing Fallingwater in person, hearing the waterfall cascade under the house was better than anything he imagined." In 2011, for Brad's 48th birthday, Angelina bought a waterfall in California so he could build a house over it inspired by Fallingwater. The source added: "The fact he could now live in a house designed by one of his idols will make this his best birthday present ever." Ocean's 11 star Brad and Oscar winner Angelina have been together since 2005.

UNStudio just officially unveiled Georgia's new Kutsai International Airport after two years of design and construction. The airport has actually been open and in operation since September 2012, but it reached full completion this month. The radically innovative and modern building features a daylight-filled transparent canopy, a pulsing LED tower that reacts to wind conditions, and a wide variety of green building strategies. Kutaisi is projected to become the gateway to Georgia in the near future, with up to a million travelers passing through in 2014-2015. The architecture of the terminal emulates the large open spaces and high ceilings of the great railways stations of the past, according to lead designer, Ben van Berkel. A clear, undulating structure provides a transparent and protective umbrella over the terminal. Passengers flow in and out of this transparent terminal while enjoying stunning views of the surrounding landscape. The terminal includes a cafe and a gallery that will showcase the country's best and brightest artists and innovators. Kutaisi Airport also features a 55-meter "pulsing tower" that serves as a beacon and focal point for the airport. The exterior of the tower is clad with a perforated skin over a concrete core. LED lights in-between the skin and the concrete core create the tower's beacon effect at dusk and dawn. The lights change color when there is fluctuation in wind speed, creating constant visual interest during the dark hours. The airport uses several innovative green building strategies. A large on-site underground water source is used for sprinkler basins, and pipes carry water through the floors of the terminal and the traffic control tower to maintain a comfortable temperature in the two buildings through radiative heating and cooling. Large cantilevered roofs on the south and southwest sides provide shade and reduce the heat load on the building. A hybrid low pressure ventilation system keeps energy consumption low, and there is a gray-water collection system in the floor underneath the terminal building. The terminal's next step is to establish a recycling system as part of its daily operations.

Facebook's new headquarters for London and Dublin will receive the same treatment as the company's Silicon Valley campus with designs by architect Frank Gehry. The London office will take over three floors of a preexisting office space in Regents Park, giving Gehry the opportunity to redesign a renovation, while Facebook's Dublin office will be built from scratch in iconic Gehry style - both inside and out. The social media giant first linked up with Gehry last year, when they commissioned the architect to redesign their Menlo Park campus, an expansion that doubled the employee capacity. Now they have commissioned Gehry to help out with the two UK offices as the company continues to expand. Having outgrown its Covent Garden office, Facebook will have 86 thousand new offices at 10 Brock Street, an address familiar to social media as Twitter is also a tenant. The three floors will provide space for twice as many employees as the Covent Garden address, and may make some Twitter executives a little uncomfortable! Dublin employees will relocate to a new building designed by Gehry on Grand Canal Square, which will provide working space for thousand employees at an enormous 11 thousand square meters facility. While the project is still in the works and designs have not been started, it seems the Facebook/Frank Gehry partnership is going strong.

Plans for Apple's new ring-shaped Headquarters in Cupertino have been approved by the city planning commission, although the final decision won't be made until May 2014. The extravagant office building was first envisioned by Steve Jobs, who personally sought approval for it prior to his death in 2011. Designed by Foster + Partners, the US$ 5 billion building, which Apple calls "the best office building in the world," is slated for completion in 2016. The "spaceship" will cover 260 thousand square meters and host up to 14 thousand employees. Roughly 260 thousand square meters of office space, corporate fitness facilities, auditoriums and cafeterias that will handle lunch for 3 thousand employees will be enveloped in pricey floor-to-ceiling panes of concave glass from Germany. A 600-seat restaurant surrounded by over 6 thousand trees will boast floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors. Steve Jobs first introduced the new campus project to the city council in mid-2011. Since the first design was unveiled, the project's estimated price has shot up from an initial US$ 3 billion to US$ 5 billion. Apple will begin tearing down 26 buildings on the existing site in June. These excavations expected to last six months will require a 24-hour convoy of trucks, according a former Apple manager.