After breaking ground in October 2016, new photos have emerged showing an aerial shot of Dubai Creek Tower’s foundation, which contains 72-meter-deep foundation piles, to be capped with 45,000 cubic meters of concrete. When completed, the cable-supported tower will rise 982 meters. The design of the Emaar Properties and Dubai Holdings joint venture is inspired by the lily flower and mosque minarets, say its developers, and will feature a 109-kilometer array of supporting cables. Swiss-Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava has designed a 360-degree observation deck and a Hanging Gardens of Babylon-style floor into the structure, with views over the nearby Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary. The project is currently vying with Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia for the title of the world's next tallest man-made structure. As Saudi Arabia's tower will be 72 meters taller than United Arab Emirates’, Dubai Creek Tower will need to complete first if it wants to hold the record (however briefly). Emaar would not confirm a completion date, but previous reporting has said the tower would be ready in time for Dubai Expo 2020. The Dubai Creek Tower is defined as a tower, not built to be habitable or for office work. It will surpass the Tokyo Skytree, the current record holder, by 294 meters. The Jeddah Tower on the other hand will have 167 habitable floors (and 85 non-inhabitable floors) and will surpass the Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building, by 171 meters. Will the so-called "city of superlatives" strike again? Time and toil will tell.

Volcano shaped hotel complex with erupting lava effect is being built in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The project developer is «New House» LLC, reported the Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East. The project estimated investment is US$ 22 million. The hotel’s total floor area will reach 280 thousand square meters and will include 180 rooms, a 25 meters swimming pool, a spa, a Korean bathhouse, a bar and a 600-seat concert hall. Now hotel main tower construction is underway. The opening ceremony is scheduled in 2019.

Enormous “Cacti” will soon pop up in the heart of Copenhagen. Architecture firm BIG has unveiled plans to build an eye-catching pair of buildings with a spiny appearance in the city’s Vesterbro district. Created in collaboration with Danish practice Dorte Mandrup Architects, the aptly named Cactus Towers are high-rise residential buildings that will be built next to a new sustainably minded IKEA store. Located next to the waterfront area of Kalvebod Brygge, the 74,000 square meter site will comprise a new IKEA store, budget hotel, and green space in addition to the two planned Cactus Towers. The pair of buildings gets its name from the striking spiky-looking facade created by rotated floor plates. The corners of those floor plates create overhangs that provide shade. The buildings will rise to 60 and 80 meters tall and feature 500 “youth rooms.” The new IKEA next door to the towers will not have any parking on cars and will encourage shoppers to take away their smaller purchases on bicycle. The 1,250-room hotel also on site will be spread across two volumes and is expected to be the largest hotel in the Nordic region. The project is set to open in 2019.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new China Embassy took place in Yerevan today. The new site is located on Admiral Isakov 17/4, near the intersection of Isakov and Bagratunyants avenues. China constructing its new embassy near the US embassy and it will be the second largest embassy in Armenia after the US Embassy. The territory of the embassy occupies about 4 hectares. Construction works will be carried out by builders from China and, according to preliminary data, construction will last for about two years. Today, the Embassy of People's Republic of China located at Baghramyan 12, which has been provided by the Armenian Government on a temporary basis since 1992.

For those who deem the impressive Dubai skyline or fake palm-shaped islands not quite exotic enough, there is a new Emirati holiday home experience in town. A veritable village of 372 square meters underwater villas is set to lay anchor in the man-made World Islands, promising panoramic views of the Persian Gulf under the sea. The first Floating Seahorse villas were unveiled last year, but these new are an upgrade for those who wish to bring the whole family. Larger than its predecessors, The Signature Edition of The Floating Seahorse has three levels and four sleeping areas which can be altered to the wishes and whims of prospective owners, reported Daily Mail. One level is completely submerged under water, and features the master bedroom and entertainment room with a view of a “coral reef garden”. The living areas in the underwater level alone will span 80 square meters and the coral garden will exceed 56 square meters in size. The Floating Seahorse villas will cost between US$ 2.8 million and US$ 3.2 million and are anchored at the heart-shaped St Petersburg island. By the time of completion, estimated to 2018, there will be more than 125 floating villas. The Floating Seahorse villas are a part of a grand project which has been 15 years in the making. Construction of The World, an artificial archipelago in the shape of a world map some 4 kilometers off the coast, began in 2003. The 300 “fake” islands range from 14 000 to 42 000 square meters, and were intended to boost Dubai's property market with wealthy foreign investors. However, following the global financial crisis in 2008, the project stalled and all but a handful of the islands remain undeveloped. In 2009, the Heart of Europe project was announced, an ambitious development to turn six of the islands into a luxury tourist resort inspired by European countries, including Sweden, Germany and Italy. The Heart of Europe will be home to the world’s first climate-controlled streets, with technology that will drop artificial rain or snow on streets and plazas. Connected by bridges, the car-free islands will be able to accommodate as many as 16,000 people at once.