In Melbourne, Australia, a new skyscraper will mimic the curves of a famous pop star Beyonce. Her moves have inspired fans at architecture firm Elenberg Fraser to design a 226-meter-high skyscraper that resembles her curvtastic form. Specifically, the building will be homage to the music video for Beyonce's 2013 hit "Ghost." The actual name of the building is the Premiere Tower, located at 134 Spencer Street in downtown Melbourne, which is the second most populated city in Australia after Sydney. Rather than flat or angular exterior walls, the new skyscraper will be composed of a series of waves, bulges, and curves. The designers say this makes the building highly efficient, while also serving as an artistic nod to the fabric-wrapped dancers in Bey's video. The curves really aren't just for show. The building's design it intended to respond to climate, wind changes, and the particular limitations of the site, according to the architecture firm. "This project is the culmination of our significant research," said the firm in a statement. "The complex form - a vertical cantilever - is actually the most effective way to redistribute the building's mass, giving the best results in terms of structural dispersion, frequency oscillation and wind requirements." The project has been financed by the Fragrance Group, a real estate company owned by Singaporean billionaire Koh Wee Meng Premiere. Tower will raise 68 stories over the west end of the city's business district. Inside, there will be 660 residential apartments and a 160-room hotel. Because the tower is tall and thin, most units on any upper floor will have a spectacular view of the cityscape below. In renderings of the interior, we can see that the undulating curves of the building have been brought inside, with ceilings and walls that hint at the building's overall shape.

Instead of concrete jungles could our cities become urban forests of wooden skyscrapers>? Today swapping cement and steel for timber is the vision of a number of environmentally-minded architects who are planning high-rise buildings across the world. A Norwegian building society will this month start work on the world's tallest wooden apartment block, a 14-story structure which will rise to 49 meters, easily eclipsing the existing record holder in Melbourne, Australia. 'Treet', or The tree, will this year begin to rise up next to the Byfjorden in Central Bergen, after the Bergen and Omegn Building Society (BOB) begins work this month. As reported the Society it had now sold half of the 62 apartments. Ole Kleppe, who is managing the project for BOB, said that the builders planned to build the apartments around a gigantic timber frame formed of metre-thick columns of wooden 'glulam'. "The news is that we are combining load-bearing structures of glulam with apartments based on modules," he explained. "All other future high-rise timber projects of more than ten stories around the world today are somehow based on a concrete, steel or composite core." Once the modules are fixed in place early next year, the entire building will be wrapped in a glass and metal facade to protect the wooden structures from the notoriously wet Bergen climate. "The project is a pilot project to show how we can build high-rise timber projects that are sustainable," he said. "This project will bind approximately one thousand tons of CO2 in the wooden constructions -- an important contribution to reducing emissions of CO2." Recently a Yale University - led study has found that using more wood and less steel and concrete in building and bridge construction would substantially reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel consumption despite an established forest conservation theory. Forte, in Melbourne, became the world's tallest timber frame apartment building at 32 meters, when it was completed at the end of 2012. In 2012 Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also announced about plans to build a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.

The proposed 388-meter, 108-story Australia 108 tower has been given the green light by the Victorian Planning Minister, Matthew Guy. The city council had initially opposed the project because of fears it would overshadow the Shrine of Remembrance, a monument to the World War I dead of the Australian state of Victoria. Australia 108 will feature 600 apartments, the nation's highest hotel and restaurants seemingly floating 84 stories above the city. The 108-storey tower, which will be the 18th-tallest building in the world, is planned to rise near the 297 meters tall Eureka Tower. The new skyscraper designed by Nonda Katsalidis. He explained the Australia 108 will be the most speedily constructed skyscraper and could dominate Melbourne's skyline in little more than four years. He also added that during construction will be used prefabricated structural sections. Currently the tallest skyscraper of southern hemisphere is Q1 Tower. The 323 meters tall skyscraper put into operation in 2005 again in Australia. The tallest skyscraper in Melbourne is Eureka Tower, which is 297 meters tall.

The expression ''timber top'' is taking on a new meaning in the building industry as the world's tallest wooden apartment tower nears completion. The company "Lend Lease" two weeks ago hoisted the final panel of cross-laminate timber (CLT) in place on the 10th story of its innovative new "Forte" building in Docklands. Victoria Harbour. About his plans "Lend Lease" announced 4 months ago and now the building is already ready. The US$ 11 million project makes use of the lightweight CLT building material, commonly used in Europe, which has a structural strength similar to concrete and steel. The company maintains it will have cut ordinary construction times by 30 percent once the internal fit out of the 32-meter tall, 10-storey apartment is finished in November. Being the first of its kind in Australia, and the highest in the world when it opens its doors "Forte" will be a test case for residential property buyers unfamiliar with wooden building materials. Lend Lease made a deliberate decision not to sell apartments in the building until it was complete, said head of operations development Daryl Patterson. It wanted to avoid misconceptions that "Forte" was like a timber-frame house. ''It's very important for people to be able to come and touch and feel the product and understand that it's as solid as any other apartment,'' he said. The company also treated "Forte" like a pilot project, learning while building. It discovered just how effective modular components were in CLT construction. Forte's modular bathrooms were manufactured in Brisbane and trucked to the site. ''The toilets are in. The taps are in. The shower screens are in. The mirrors are up on the wall,'' Mr Patterson said. Once complete, Forte will house 23 boutique residential apartments and 4 townhouses with prices ranging from US$ 430 - US$ 795 thousand. Currently one of the highest modern wooden buildings is in London. Called the Stadthaus, Murray Grove, it's a nine-story residential building that stands at just less than 30 meters (98 feet). Even the lift shafts and stairwells are made from wood. Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also has plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.

The company Lend Lease last unveiled plans to build the first high rise apartment building in Australia and the tallest in the world using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), which it says heralds a new era for the construction industry, reported the resource Architecture Design. The new wooden tower called Forte, will be constructed in Victoria Harbour, Melbourne and it will rise over 10 stories, offering 23 boutique residential apartments and 4 townhouses. Designed and built by Lend Lease, the building, due for completion in October 2012, will reflect the contemporary inner-city lifestyle of Victoria Harbour while combining environmental initiatives such as better energy efficiency in terms of heating and cooling. Building with CLT is seen as a more efficient and environmentally-friendly construction process, which has proven successful in Europe for more than a decade, but has not been undertaken in Australia before. By using CLT, Lend Lease claims, the project, Forte, will reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by more than 1,400 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel - the equivalent of removing 345 cars from our roads. CLT is an engineered mass timber product and very different to a traditional wood frame. Mass timber - dense solid panels of wood engineered for strength through laminations of different layers - provides significant benefits and has the equivalent structural integrity to concrete. CLT on a weight to strength basis meets, and in some cases exceed, the performance of reinforced concrete, resulting in a very stable and durable structural outcome. Designed and produced in a factory environment means it will also be built 30 percent faster than its material counterparts, while being cleaner and more efficient. Currently one of the highest modern wooden buildings is in London. Called the Stadthaus, Murray Grove, it's a nine-story residential building that stands at just less than 30 meters (98 feet). Even the lift shafts and stairwells are made from wood. Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also has plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.