A ceremony has taken place to mark the beginning of construction on a massive 137 meters tall guitar shaped hotel in Hollywood, Florida. The 36-story giant glass tower is being built as part of a US$1.5 billion expansion of Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which will nearly double its current size. The iconic guitar hotel structure is the vision of James F. Allen, longtime CEO of Seminole Gaming and Chairman of Hard Rock International. ‘It will be the first building in the world that’s truly to scale designed as an authentic guitar. So it’s not just an exterior facade, the curving of the building will be identical to an authentic guitar. We think the building itself will be must-see attraction,’ he told reporters. The tower is due to open in 2019 and will add 638 rooms and suites to pushing the room total to 1,270 and will also contain a 3900 square meters spa as well as several restaurants and lounges. The casino will have 3,267 slot machines and 178 table games such as blackjack and baccarat, plus a new 1670 square meters poker room. As well as wondering at the tower’s avant-garde shape, guests will access a 40.5 thousand square meters complex at its base that will offer private cabanas with plunge pools, multiple waterfalls, beach club dining and watersports.

Stefano Boeri Architects “Vertical Forests” continue to take root around the world, with the latest project planned for Paris, reported The Inhabitat. Designed for Villiers sur Marne in east Paris, Forêt Blanche will be a 54-meter-tall tower built predominately of timber. Two thousand trees, shrubs, and plants will cover the wooden facade—a green surface equivalent to a hectare of forest. Forêt Blanche will host residential apartments on the high floors, offices and commercial services in the lower part, with a mix of terraces and balconies on the four sides of the tower. The east and west facing side will allow the passage of sunlight all day, giving natural illumination and ventilation to the apartments and an exceptional panorama on the landscape of central Paris.

Foster + Partners has begun construction on a supertall skyscraper in Toronto's business district, which is set to become the country's tallest building at 306 meters, reported The Dezeen. It will be Canada's tallest inhabitable building and it's second-tallest man-made structure after the CN Tower, a 553-metre communications and observation tower. At 85 stories and over 300 meters in height, the building will be classified as a supertall skyscraper. The rectilinear design by British firm Foster + Partners and Ontario-based Core Architects will feature an expressed structure, with vertical, horizontal and diagonal elements covered in "champagne bronze" colored cladding. The skyscraper will be broken up into a series of blocks by regularly spaced bands that cut into the structure, correlating to the placement of the building's mechanical floors. The One's upper floors will be dedicated to living space, providing approximately 560 apartments. This will include several duplex penthouses offering inhabitants impressive views out to Lake Ontario and beyond. The eight lowest levels will be occupied by shops, restaurants and cafes linking with the city's Yorkville neighborhood. To keep the building's base exclusively for commercial use, all of the homes will be accessed via a sky lobby above the shopping podium. Here there will be communal spa and fitness facilities, as well as an outdoor terrace, library, and formal entertainment rooms.

Resigned to the fact that rising sea levels are inevitable at this point, architects are starting to create feasible, water-based living solutions. According to Inhabitat.com Italian architect Luca Curci has just unveiled a design that envisions a soaring zero-energy tower infused with greenery on each level that will be planted into the sea floor, resulting in what could be the future of self-contained architecture. Curci’s proposed Vertical City tower would consists of 10 overlapping modular layers, reaching a height of nearly 750 meters with 180 floors. The facade would be clad with a membrane of photovoltaic glass, which would generate sufficient energy for the entire building and then some. The tower would have 17650 square meters of floor surface that would be used for residences, offices, services, retail space, and various facilities. The tower design would be focused on providing a healthy, vibrant environment that connects the residents and workers with nature. For example, the tower would have ample air circulation and natural light on each level thanks to numerous perforated slots throughout the tower’s exterior. Additionally, the design calls for over 20000 meters of outdoor green space spread throughout the building, including a public open-air garden plaza on the rooftop. The massive tower’s base would be planted firmly into the sea floor. The submerged floors would house the parking and technical areas, as well as various amenities such as spas, mediation centers, a workout center, etc. A handful of luxury hotels rooms would also be completely submerged underwater, offering a unique experience as well as amazing views of marine life. Access to the Vertical City would be possible by water, land or air. The circular base would have external and internal docks as well as multiple naval entries for large and small boats. The tower would be connected to the mainland via a semi-submerged bridge for pedestrians, cars, and an electric-based public transportation system. For air arrivals, the building will be topped with a heliport.

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.