China will soon finish construction on what will be the world's tallest and longest glass pedestrian bridge, floating 300 meters above a canyon in the Zhangjiajie National Park. Designed by Israeli architect, Haim Dotan, the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge will be 380 meters long, 6 meters wide and feature a transparent glass floor. This extreme bridge aspires to become a "Wonder of the World" and continues the Chinese trend of delivering unique architecture that tests the limits of human ingenuity. The bridge will comprise two side steel beams, a structural glass deck, handrails and side suspension cables, with the capacity to hold up to 800 people at a time. The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge will also contain a bungee jumping spot and be used as a runway for fashion shows. Construction is expected to wrap up in July, with the bridge officially opening to the public in October 2015.

The Avesta Company has announced that the first phase of the 30 million square meters (3000 ha) Caspian Islands project will be completed by May 28, the Azertag state news agency reports. The first phase consists of several beaches, restaurants, bridges and about 4 kilometers of roads, as well as two 50 thousand square meters parks. The project will be implemented in three stages. The total investment required in the Caspian Islands project is estimated at US$ 100 billion. In general, Caspian Islands is to comprise 50 artificial islands containing 19 high-rise residential districts with more than 150 schools and numerous other support institutions, also it is planned to construct 20 kilometers boulevard and 20 bridges. The city is to house 1 about million residents. Caspian Islands is to be the site of the 1,050-meter Azerbaijan Tower, a proposal that is expected to cost more than US$ 2 billion to construct and is estimated to be completed by 2025. If completed, the Azerbaijan Tower would exceed the height of the under-construction 1,000-km Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, currently set to be the world's tallest building by 2019. This Skyscraper is expected to construct during the second phase of project. The owner of Avesta Ibrahim Ibrahimov is one of the richest men of Azerbaijan. He was born in May 28, 1955 in Nakhichevan. Near friend of presidential family Ibrahimov (he called Ilham Aliyev "the Boss of All Bosses") is going to occupy the penthouse at Azerbaijan Tower. Opposition figures say that Ibrahimov owes much of what he has to the Aliyev family, but when NYT correspondent Peter Savodnik asked him about it, he shrugged. Western financial analysts and real estate developers are understandably skeptical about Caspian Islands project. For one thing, there's President Ilham Aliyev's regime, which opposes political competition and other reforms that would diversify its economy and spur the long-term growth needed for this kind of mega-project (NYT).

After six years of planning, preparation and construction, London's Olympic Park hosts its first non-athlete visitors. The US$ 11 billion Olympic Park contains several of the 2012 Games biggest sporting venues, including the Olympic Stadium and the Zaha Hadid-designed Aquatics Centre, as well as the Olympic Village. In addition to the Aquatics Centre, the Olympic Park also includes the Wilkinson Eyre Architects-designed Basketball Arena, a large 12 thousand-seat temporary structure that will be taken apart and recycled once the games have ended. And towering over the Olympic Park is Anish Kapoor's controversial ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower, which is made from recycled steel and has received mixed reviews from observers. Today the Opening Ceremony will mark the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics, and visitors will get their first look at the Olympic Park. Hosting the Olympics is a massive undertaking for the host city. In 2006, London demolished more than 200 buildings to make room for what would eventually become the Olympic Park. When those buildings were demolished, an impressive 98 percent of the materials were reused and recycled in the construction of the Olympic Park and elsewhere. The Olympic Park was built on former industrial brown fields, which cleaned up before the games. About 1.4 million cubic meters of contaminated soil was excavated from the site, and five enormous soil washing machines were brought in to wash the soil and filter out oil, tar and heavy metals. After the 2012 Summer Olympics are over, the Olympic Park will again be transformed. In 2013, the roughly 500 thousand square meters Park in East London will reopen as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The 114.5-meters tall ArcelorMittal Orbit will still tower over the park, and the Olympic stadium will be downsized to a permanent stadium that will seat 25 thousand people.