Japan considers building an alternative capital to allay fears of another natural disaster, reported constructiondigital.com. The devastation and human tragedies following the March 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Japan was a wake up call to government officials, who share concerns over the vulnerability of Japan's capital to such an event. Enough concern, in fact, for the leading Democratic Party is considering plans to build a backup Tokyo, 400 kilometer to the southwest. This "Plan B" city would house the government and curb economic losses if disaster, natural or otherwise, destroyed Japan's largest city. The proposed city would house much more than just emergency government officials, however. The plans include office towers, resorts, residential complexes, and more. There is even a bid to build "the tallest tower in the world" in what has been named Integrated Resort, Tourism, Business, and Backup City. Tokyo is home to nearly 35 million people in the greater metro area, and many wonder how the proposed city, built for a mere population of 200 thousand , could possibly serve a backup function to Japan's thriving capital. The proposed site is currently home to the underused "Itami Airport", and stretches for more than 5 thousand square meters. Already the project has received approval by Naoto Kan, the former prime minister, as well as the former trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda. Officials claim that over 90 percent of the funds for the city will come from private industry. Nate Berg over at The Atlantic Cities wonders, though, why this or similar funding won't be used to better prepare the current capital, should the unthinkable happen.

As reported by Yahoo.com, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on November 1 laid the cornerstone for the Grand Mosque of Algiers, a US$ 1.3 billion project that should become the world's third largest mosque. China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) last month was awarded the contract to build the huge monument, facing the sea in the east of Algiers, over four years. The mosque will sit on 20 hectares in the Mohammadia area of the capital. Its minaret soaring 270 meters into the sky, it will hold 120 thousand worshippers, feature a library of 1 million works and seating for 2 thousand. It will also house a museum and a research centre and become the world's third largest mosque after those in Mecca and Saudi Arabia in Medina. Algiers currently has three grand mosques: "Djamaa el-Kebir" built in the 11th century, "Djamaa el-Djedid" built in 1660, and the "Ketchaoua" at the foot of the Casbah, also built during the Ottoman rule in the 17th century.

As reported by PanARMENIAN.net, medieval bridge in Garni will be reconstructed by funding of "U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP)". The beginning of construction works is planned in 2012. According to Deputy Minister of Culture Arev Samuelian, it's hard to say exactly how long it will take to repair the bridge, presumably from 1-1.5 years. In order to restore the medieval bridge AFCP committed US$ 110 thousand. Medieval bridge in Garni was built in 11th century on the river Azat. In 2010, by means of the budget of the RA some reconstruction work was carried out and was also set restoration projekt for the future. Since its approval by the U.S. Congress in fall 2000, the "U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation" has funded more than 640 cultural projects in over 100 countries, representing a contribution of nearly US$ 26 million towards the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide.

According to Reuters, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, whose firm designed the building said, that the much-delayed but striking steel, concrete and glass headquarters for Chinese state television is expected finally to fully open in the new year. Dominating the skyline of Beijing's central business district, the building was among several projects the city undertook to reinvent itself for the 2008 Olympics, along with Norman Foster's US$ 3.6 billion new airport terminal and French architect Paul Andreu's egg-shaped National Grand Theatre. But the Olympics came and went and the state television building failed to open. According to website e-architect, construction of the 600 thousand square meter project began in September 2004 on the 20 hectare site of an abandoned motorcycle factory in Beijing's new Central Business District. After connecting the two leaning towers in December 2007 and topping out structural steel works on March 2008, the CCTV building planned to complete at end of 2009, but a 2009 fire at a hotel being built next to the television tower had caused the delay. The 600 million euro project consists of two buildings. The new China Central Television Headquarters (CCTV), at a height of 230 meters and a floor area of 405 thousand square meters, combines administration with news, broadcasting, studios and program production. The second building, the 116 thousand square meters Television Cultural Center (TVCC) includes a hotel, a visitor's center, a large publc theatre and exhibition spaces.

Social networking site Facebook is to build its first data centre outside the United States in the northern Swedish town of Lulea, awarding an initial construction contract of US$ 121 million, reported Reuters. The data centre, set to be the largest of its kind in Europe, will take advantage of the climate in Lulea, among the coldest in Sweden, to cool tens of thousands of servers. Swedish construction group NCC said it was part of a joint venture with two U.S. companies, DPR Construction and Fortis Construction, which had won a contract of US$ 121 million for the first of three server buildings in the data centre. The data centre will be the northern most of its size on Earth. It is Facebook's first in Europe and will serve more than 800 million site users. Facebook said in a statement it chose Lulea, despite its remoteness some 1000 kilometers north of Swedish capital Stockholm, because its cold climate would be good for cooling and that it could provide environmentally friendly hydro-power. The three server buildings will have an area of 28,000 square meters each. Construction takes place in three phases and begins instantly. The first building is to be operational within a year and the entire facility is scheduled for completion by 2014.