When American engineer William Le Baron Jenney designed the world's first skyscraper in Chicago in 1884, no one believed in his unconventional technologies. But today swapping cement and steel for timber is the vision of a number of environmentally-minded architects who are planning high-rise building across the world. Architecture firm "Rudiger Lainer and Partner" has unveiled plans to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper in the Seestadt Aspern area of Vienna. The 84 meters, 24 stories "HoHo" tower will house a hotel, apartments, a restaurant, a wellness center and offices. 76 percent of the structure will be constructed from wood, which will save a phenomenal 2,800 tons of CO2 emissions over similar structures built out of steel and concrete. Speaking to the Guardian, project developer Caroline Palfy, of "Kerbler " explained "I think it is important everyone now... thinks in different ways. We have wood, which is a perfect construction material for building. It was used many centuries and it was perfect then and is perfect now." Not only is the material appropriate for construction of such a building, it is radically more environmentally friendly than concrete. According to research from Columbia University, the manufacturing of cement-a key ingredient in concrete-accounts for a whopping five percent of all global CO2 emissions. Trees, on the other hand, absorb CO2 as they grow-so, if wood is sustainably sourced it can serve as an eco-friendly alternative building material. Currently world's highest timber frame apartment building "Forte" at 32 meters completed in 2012 is situated in Melbourne. Another modern wooden building is in London. Called the "Stadthaus", Murray Grove, it's a nine-story residential building that stands at just less than 30 meters. Even the lift shafts and stairwells are made from wood. In previous years Norway and Canada also announced about plans to build wooden skyscrapers. In 2012 Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at "McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design", announced about plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver. Two years later "Bergen ? Omegn Building Society" started works on the 14 story wooden structure "Treet" or "The tree", which would rise to 49 meters.

Apple is moving into Silicon Valley headquarters that look like a spaceship. Facebook is expanding its campus with a new building designed by Frank Gehry. Now it's Google's turn. Recently Google has announced about its new headquarters in Mountain View. Architectural firms Heatherwick Studio and BIG are collaborating on the design of Google's new Mountain View Campus named "Googleplex". The campus is designed with a strong emphasis on the natural environment, with office buildings contained within large dome-shaped greenhouses and abundant plant life present both inside and out. The campus will be open to the public so that the local community can enjoy the open green spaces. The development will also include wildlife habitats and will restore waterways that feed water to the Bay. Additionally, the new "Googleplex" will create an escape from the "parking lot" environment familiar to much of Silicon Valley. Roads will be designed for bikes and for pedestrians, with an urban environment that promotes a lively, stimulating energy. More details are still to come, and indeed more work is still to be done.

China currently boasts the world's largest building, could soon be home to the world's tallest pair of towers, and according to Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), we will soon be able to add an airport passenger terminal to the list. The firm has unveiled plans for its Beijing New Airport Terminal Building, which it says will be the world's largest. The project is collaboration between ZHA and airport architecture firm ADP Ingenierie, and is being carried out under the leadership of the Beijing New Airport Headquarters (BNAH). Building will initially accommodate 45 million passengers per year and "will be adaptable and sustainable, operating in many different configurations dependent on varying aircraft and passenger traffic throughout each day," states ZHA. Beyond its predicted capacity of 45 million passengers per year, details on the new terminal building are scant. Gizmag reports that the terminal will "measure 700,000 square meters, and that the entire airport will be completed in 2018, for a total budget of roughly US$13.8 billion," but notes that ZHA is yet to confirm this. The mammoth new star-shaped terminal will include "direct links to local and national rail services including the Gaotie high speed rail," and is planned as "a key hub within Beijing's growing transport network and a catalyst for the region's economic development, including the city of Tianjin and Hebei Province". The New Beijing Terminal Building is being developed so as to alleviate pressure on Beijing's existing Capital Airport. Completed in 2008, the Foster + Partners-designed airport is already one of the largest in the world, but has been operating beyond its capacity.

3D printers are everywhere and they have been used to construct everything. Recently a Chinese company WinSun has successfully 3D printed a five-story apartment building and a 110 square meters villa from special print material. China's newest mansion is not only made from recycled materials, but the sprawling 110 square meters home was made with 3D printing. The luxury mansion was 3D printed in layers, using recycled stone and construction waste. In order to print a mansion, WinSun had to construct a larger-than-life 3D printer. The mansion printer stands 6.6 meters high, 10 meters wide and 40 meters long. Combining recycled materials and quick-dry cement, the giant printer squeezes out layer upon layer of pasty materials in strong diagonal shapes, which then harden. The pieces are reinforced with steel, and then filled with insulation like any other wall when building a house. In addition to the mansion, WinSun has also 3D printed a five-story apartment building and 10 affordable homes from recycled materials. WinSun's 3D-printed five-story apartment building took just one day to print, and then five additional days to assemble, with low construction waste and minimal laborers needed. The mansion, which was 3D printed inside and out, also saved on construction and labor. In the future, WinSun plans to use the efficient and low-construction waste process to build bridges and soaring skyscrapers. The company has already proven its stake in the 3D-printed architecture market, printing 10 homes at US$ 5,000 a piece in March of last year. Last year the Dutch company DUS Architects developed 3D-printid house using bioplastic.

According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) annual report about skyscrapers construction all over the world, 2014 was a record year. The CTBUH has determined that 97 buildings of 200 meters' height or greater were completed around the world in 2014. Nearly half of all high-rise buildings were being built in China. The 11 of these supertalls were 300 meters or higher. The 97 buildings completed in 2014 beat every previous year on record, including the previous record high of 81 completions in 2011. This was the "tallest year ever" by another measure: The sum of heights of all 200-meter-plus buildings completed across the globe in 2014 was 23,333 meters - setting another all-time record and breaking 2011's previous record of 19,852 meters. The number of 200-meter-plus buildings in existence has hit 935, a 352% increase from 2000, when only 266 existed. China completed the most 200-meter-plus buildings (58). This represents 60% of the global 2014 total. According to CTBUH their annual number of skyscrapers will increase related to economic development of China. The Philippines took second place with five completions, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar share position three with four completions, and the United States, Japan, Indonesia and Canada tie for fourth, with three completions each. At 541 meters, One World Trade Center was the tallest building to complete in 2014 and is now the world's third-tallest building. From 97 skyscrapers, built in 2014, 47 are designed for offices. Another 26 are classified as multi-functional center with a hotel, commercial and residential areas. If anything, 2015 promises to be more active than 2014 and indeed, any year previous. We currently project the completion of between 105 and 130 buildings of 200 meters' height or greater, eight to 15 of which will be supertalls, and one of which will be a megatall - Shanghai Tower (632 meters). Founded in 1969, the Council's mission is to disseminate multidisciplinary information on tall buildings and sustainable urban environments, to maximize the international interaction of professionals involved in creating the built environment, and to make the latest knowledge available to professionals in a useful form. Now CTBUH headquarters located in Chicago.