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.

One of the most distinctive properties in the world has gone on the market - a fortress turned luxury villa, designed by Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous Italian artist and inventor who painted Mona Lisa. The building, in Livorno, Italy, is currently on the books of property firm Lionard Luxury Real Estate and is expected to sell for between US$ 5.6 million and US$ 11.2 million. Perched on top of a cliff, the property overlooks the Mediterranean Sea in Tuscany, Livorno, Italy, about 56 miles from Florence, where the painter stayed while he worked in 1502. The prestigious residence is part of a larger complex built as a fortification for the defense of the city of Livorno in the mid - 1400s by a well-known Florentine architect. Da Vinci designed the great walls surrounding the historic estate and gardens while working as a military engineer and, later, in the 19th century Napoleon's sister, Princess Elisa Bonaparte, became the owner. The main villa features a total floor surface of 773 square meters over four floors and a basement level. It is constructed of stone and brick, with terracotta flooring and copper eaves. On the ground floor, which is connected to the upper levels by an internal staircase, there is a hallway that opens onto a living room with a view of the sea, a dining area, three closets, a passageway, a bathroom and changing room, kitchen and larder. The mezzanine mainly features closets while on the first floor are the sleeping quarters with five bedrooms, each with in-suite bathrooms. The top floor, traditionally used by staff, features a kitchen/diner, a bathroom and a bedroom. The basement, which includes a closet, is reached by an internal staircase on the north side of the villa.

The US and Cuban authorities have announced a project to restore American Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway's home near Havana, where he penned one of his most famous and last pieces of fiction, "The Old Man and the Sea". Hemingway stayed in Cuba for a long period of time, from 1939 until just before he committed suicide on July 2, 1961. The famous writer originally stayed in the Ambos Mundos hotel in Havana and then moved out to his colonial-style residence, Finca Vigia. An American foundation, restoring the legendary writer's home in Cuba, signed an agreement with the Cuban government to import construction material directly from the US to aid the preservation efforts, CNN reported on June 21. The joint US-Cuban project will build a workshop adjacent to Hemingway's home in Cuba to restore and maintain thousands of the famed writer's documents, rough drafts and letters. Mary-Jo Adams, the executive director of the Boston-based Finca Vigia Foundation, named after the writer's house, said the foundation has received approval from the American and Cuban governments to bring US$ 860,000 worth of supplies from the US for the new construction. In January, as part of a shift in the US policy towards Cuba, President Barack Obama authorized the exportation of building materials to the island for the first time since the US broke relations with the island following the 1959 revolution. His widow, Mary, donated the house to the Cuban government, which displays Hemingway's books, clothing and even a collection of fermented lizards. Many of Hemingway's works are considered classics of American literature. Some of the most famous include "A Farewell to Arms" (1929), "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940) and "The Old Man and the Sea" (1951) for which he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

Pablo Picasso's granddaughter is selling his villa in Cannes and 126 of his ceramics as she tries to shake off unhappy childhood memories of the artist. Marina Picasso, 64, remembers being taken to the gates of the grand three-storey house, La Californie, by her impoverished father, Paulo, to beg for handouts from an indifferent Picasso. The sale "will be a way for me to turn the page on a rather painful story," told Marina Picasso. She has reportedly received an offer of nearly US$ 172 million for the 1920 villa that she inherited at the age of 22, along with an extensive collection of his works. Sotheby's expects the ceramics to fetch up to US$ 9.2 million. "It's not a house where I have a lot of good memories," she said. "I saw very little of my grandfather there. With hindsight, I understand that he may have been captivated by painting and nothing else was more important to him. Except when you're a child, you don't experience it like that." Picasso bought the villa in 1955 and painted one of his most famous works there, The Bay of Cannes. He moved out in 1961 after his view of the sea was blocked by a new building. Marina Picasso renovated the villa in 1987 and renamed it the "Pavillon de Flore", although it is better known as "La Californie". Marina Picasso says the sale will help her broaden her philanthropic projects. She funds a children's hospital in Vietnam and programs to help troubled teenagers and the elderly in Switzerland, where she spends much of her time. Picasso lived at La Californie with his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, who barred Marina Picasso and her brother Pablito from the artist's funeral. Pablito Picasso committed suicide a few days later. Marina Picasso's father was Picasso's son by his first wife, Olga Khokhlova, a Russian-Ukrainian ballerina. He was humiliated by being forced to work as the artist's chauffeur.

The central Fresno house that famed Armenian-American author William Saroyan lived in for the last 17 years of his life is in foreclosure and headed to auction in May. The simple stucco tract home at 2729 W. Griffith Way, just west of Cooper Middle School, has had three different owners since Saroyan's death in 1981 and has fallen into foreclosure twice, according to Fresno County public property records. Neighbor Ernie Baca said the house has been used as a rental for years and attracted squatters. Today, the home, which bears a plaque honoring the Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winning author, is empty with some windows boarded up and foreclosure notices hanging on the screen door. Documents show Saroyan's home was purchased by the current owners in 2006. Baca says since then the place has slowly deteriorated. He says a new tenant moved in every year and now squatters are taking over. For a place on the city of Fresno's historic registry, there was hope better care would be taken. The small, 114 square meters house was built in 1964. It has three bedrooms and one bathroom. When Saroyan owned it and the house just west of it, fruit trees and weeds grew around the property. Saroyan would pay Baca US$ 30 to water the trees and the weeds when he was away, Baca said with a chuckle. The house was rough like Saroyan who was scruffy with a long mustache, he said. The Saroyan house is on the local register of historic resources. The plaque, which lists 10 pieces of Saroyan's work written while living in the house, was installed in 1989. NBS Default Services, LLC, of Long Beach is handling the foreclosure. The house is scheduled to be auctioned off at 10 a.m. May 5 at the Fresno County Courthouse.