Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Here are some facts about its housing, wealth, and economy that will make you realize its importance to the region.
Produced by Alex Kuzoian.
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7 Mind-Blowing Facts About Hong Kong
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432 Park Is Officially New York City's Tallest Apartment Building
On Friday, construction topped out at 432 Park, a luxury condominium that's now arguably the tallest building in New York City. It even has the new One World Trade Center beat, not counting that building's spire.
At 1,396 feet, 432 Park towers above a row of super-tall buildings rising on the southern end of Central Park, an area that's already earned its "Billionaires' Belt" nickname. These skyscrapers are so tall they needed approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before construction could start.
“It’s almost like the Mona Lisa,” developer Harry B. Macklowe said Friday, The New York Times reported. “Except instead of it looking at you, you’re looking at it wherever you are. You can’t escape it.”
The building, which cost $1.3 billion to construct, has two penthouses, one on the 96th floor that sold for $95 million and another on the 95th, currently priced at $85 million.
The building's architect Rafael Viñoly made news back in September 2013 when his Walkie Talkie building wreaked havoc on London's streets, emitting a reflection so hot it melted cars and literally fried eggs on the sidewalk. But if these renderings are any indication, this building should be more of a success.
We recently saw renderings of the apartment building's interiors, and the designs are magnificent.
Designer Deborah Berke says her focus was to make the most of the apartments' perch above the city. Double-height ceilings and beautiful oak flooring are highlights, while huge square windows provide an unparalleled view.
432 Park contains 104 apartments, which start at $7 million.
From the outside, rows of six 100-square-foot windows give the building the square look of a waffle iron.
Inside, Berke's design is just as geometric. The huge windows are in a straight line from the front door, making the most of the apartment's perch above the city.
According to Berke, the oak herringbone floors are a take on Park Avenue's more traditional apartment buildings.
The kitchens will be outfitted with sleek marble countertops and stainless steel appliances.
But the kitchen's best feature has to be this 10-foot-long marble breakfast bar framed against the window. Just imagine enjoying your morning coffee here, with all of Manhattan sprawled out below you.
The master suite's floor plan was designed so that the bed would be perfectly aligned with the window, offering the best views possible first thing in the morning.
The master suite has separated his and hers bathrooms. Looking north from the marble-covered shower, you'll get a peek of Central Park and the Upper East Side. 
And to the south, views of the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, and the Freedom Tower can all be enjoyed from this free-standing tub.
432 Park will dramatically change the skyline around Central Park once it's completed in 2015.
Listen to designer Deborah Berke discuss her renderings and concept below.
SEE ALSO: THE NEW BILLIONAIRES' ROW: See The Incredible Transformation Of New York's 57th Street
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7 Amazing Facts About Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Here are some facts about its housing, wealth, and economy that will make you realize its importance to the region.
Produced by Alex Kuzoian
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Daredevil Nik Wallenda Walked A Tightrope Blindfolded Across The Chicago Skyline
Washington (AFP) - US daredevil Nik Wallenda broke two world records when he crossed the Chicago skyline on a tightrope suspended between three skyscrapers, without a safety harness.
Wallenda, already the first person to cross the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls on a high wire, set records for the steepest tightrope incline and highest blindfolded walk as he stepped gingerly across the Windy City in mid-air.
In the first half of the stunt Wallenda, 35, walked more than two city blocks and crossed the Chicago River with a tightrope set at an incline of 19 degrees, between the Marina City west tower and the Leo Burnett Building.
Upon descending from the tightrope, Wallenda returned to Marina City west via the ground to complete his second and more dangerous feat: a tightrope walk to the east tower at more than 500 feet (152 meters), blindfolded.
He completed the first walk in just under seven minutes and the second in slightly more than a minute, despite gusts of wind.
"It's all about pushing myself to become better at what I do and hoping to inspire others to become better at what they do," Wallenda told the Discovery Channel, which broadcast the stunt in more than 220 countries.
The Chicago Tribune said police estimated some 50,000 people turned out on Sunday to watch Wallenda, a seventh generation member of the Flying Wallendas circus family.
Here's the full video:
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The First Tenants Of One World Trade Center Moved In Today
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the first tenants moved their belongings into the newly built One World Trade Center with enthusiasm tinged by emotional remembrance.
About 200 Condé Nast employees on Monday walked through the revolving doors of the building, America's tallest skyscraper - the first wave of 3,400 company staffers to occupy the 104-story gleaming tower in Lower Manhattan by February 2015.
Chief among them was Condé Nast's chief executive, Charles Townsend, whose gray Mercedes rolled into the tower's south entrance, where he was greeted by developers and other officials.
"This is a terrific day for Lower Manhattan, a wonderful day for New York City and an absolutely great day for Condé Nast," Townsend said.
The publishing company, which owns The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and other magazines, is the first renter to set up offices in the tower, where it will occupy floors 20 to 44.
Other Condé Nast employees entering their company's new headquarters consistently echoed their leader's excitement while downplaying reservations about the site's security.
"I can understand the fear," said Vijay Ramcharitar, a finance analyst at Condé Nast. "But I don't think you look at this building with fear, you look at it with inspiration."
One World Trade Center stands on the location where more than 2,700 people perished when hijacked planes slammed into the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001. It is directly across from the 9/11 Memorial.
Some spoke of history going full circle at last.
Maryanne Casey, who works for a legal affiliate of Condé Nast, said moving into her new office evoked particularly personal memories. She once worked at the World Trade Center and her firefighter brother helped in the aftermath of the attacks.
"It's a great tribute to America to see this," she said. "I'm very proud to work here."
The new building is more than 58 percent leased, according to a statement from the Durst Organization, a real estate company that manages the property jointly with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Construction workers who helped the $3.9 billion tower rise from the rubble, overcoming repeated delays that pushed back the original 2006 completion date, put finishing touches on the building's glass exterior and watched with pride as its first tenants settled in.
"It's a great building," said one worker wearing a hard hat and yellow vest.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Steve Orlofsky)
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Paris Might Build A Modern Glass Tower—And Some People Are Furious
Paris is world famous for its gorgeous, uniform 19th-century Haussmann-style architecture.
As a result, Parisians are generally wary or even outright hostile toward new construction: when the Pompidou Centre was built in 1977, critics called it an eyesore, and the Tour Montparnasse was so reviled when it was built in 1969 that it was the last tower to be built in the central city since the '60s.
But now Paris's mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is arguing that the city needs new high-rise construction to move into the future. And she's pushing her agenda forward with the proposal of the Triangle Tower, a 656-foot glass-and-steel tower that would be built in Paris's Montparnasse neighborhood.
The proposal for the Triangle Tower went before Paris's city council this week, and even though city council members voted against the construction of the building, Mayor Hidalgo used her veto power to keep the project going, according to the New York Times.
If the project moves forward, construction is expected to cost about $627 million.
Designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, the Triangle Tower would have 43 floors and be shaped like a pyramid.
Award-winning architect Jean Nouvel praised the Triangle Tower as “one of the most incredible pieces of sculpture that I have seen in ages.”
Opponents argue that the tower would ruin the look and feel of the neighborhood, and would stand out as an eyesore in Paris's skyline.
Olivier de Monicault, the president of SOS Paris, an association that opposes skyscrapers in Paris, told the New York Times that the tower would act like "a wall that would cast a huge shadow on the surrounding neighborhood."
He also argued that it would change the look and feel of the neighborhood, saying that “tourists do not come here to see Manhattan."
But Mayor Hidalgo and other proponents argue that without new high-rise constructions like this, Paris could be left behind in the future.
“We risk Paris becoming solely a city with a history – a museum piece with no outlook on the future,“ said architect Jacques Rougerie.
Proponents also argue that the construction of the building would bring about 5,000 construction jobs and a much-needed boost to the economy, according to the New York Times.
Once constructed, the building would be home to offices, shops, an observation platform, and a panoramic restaurant at the top.
SEE ALSO: Frank Gehry's New Paris Museum Looks Like A Glass Sailboat
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The 10 Tallest Buildings That Were Never Finished
Many buildings never get completed. Sometimes the construction phase burns out the fund, and the bricklayers have to halt. Other times an event like a war or a political shift stops the work halfway.
The chart below, published by the Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), shows the 10 tallest buildings (CTBUH originally highlighted 20) in which construction began but was never completed.
CTBUH reports that "a building is considered to be 'Never Completed' when site works had begun, but were completely halted, and no reports indicate that construction will continue."
The top spot goes to the gigantic Nakheel Tower in Dubai, which would have stood as high as one kilometre (3,300 feet).
Launched in 2008, it was put on hold in 2009 when the builder went bust. The proposed relaunch of the construction never happened, and the building yard is still untouched after five years.
Three more projects that make the list also come from Dubai, with one more from neighbour Doha. Clearly, the Emirates have a passion for tall towers, but sometimes the projects don't go to plan.
The Chicago Spire, the fourth-tallest project on the list, went bust because of the financial crisis, leading to a $77 million (£49 million) lawsuit against its developer Garrett Kelleher.
World War II halted the construction of the Palace of the Soviets, a gigantic bureaucratic behemoth that Joseph Stalin wanted to build in Moscow. The dictator specifically required that it would top the Eiffel tower in Paris.
Started in 1937, it would have been the tallest building on the planet at that time, but the Nazi invasion of the USSR stopped its construction in 1941.
Not a bad result, considering that the skyscraper would have been topped with a statue of Stalin himself, overseeing the Russian capital from 450 metres up (image right).
The Palace and its creator are also the subject of a dedicated video on YouTube.
The more recent Russia Tower, on which construction stopped in 2008 and that is now due to become a car park, shows that mega buildings are still much appreciated around the Kremlin.
The report concludes that 50 buildings taller than 150 metres (500 feet) are on hold in the world.
How many will make the list next year?
NOW WATCH: Watch These Daredevil Dancers Leap From A 22-Foot Spinning Ladder
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The 10 Tallest Skyscrapers Of The Future
We have entered the age of the “megatall” skyscraper.
The first megatall tower — a building that soars over 2,000 feet into the air — opened ten years ago, according to Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). It was the Burj Khalifa, and it set astounding records at 2,722 feet tall or over half a mile high.
But come 2018, a new building will rise more than 550 feet taller than the Khalifa.
And the CTBUH predicts that buildings will just keep getting taller. There may even be a kilometer-tall building (that's 3,280 feet) by the end of the next decade.
We rounded up a list of some of the tallest buildings that are currently under construction, according to CTBUH. All of them will be finished by 2020, and four of them are more than 2,000 feet tall.
Needless to say, the skylines of the future will look a lot different.
10. Zhongguo Zun, Beijing, China
Height: 1,732 feet, Floors: 108
Completion: 2018
The name comes from the zun, an ancient Chinese wine vessel that inspired the building design. After completion, the so-called "China Zun" will be Northern China’s second tallest building.
9. CTF Finance Center, Guangzhou, China
Height: 1,739 feet, Floors: 111
Completion: 2016
CTF Finance Center, is a mixed-use tower under construction in Guangzhou, China. The CTF building will have the fastest elevators in the world at 45 miles per hour. It will take take 43 seconds to go from the first to the 95th floor, according to the BBC.
8. Nordstrom Tower, New York, New York
Height: 1,775 feet, Floors: 92
Completion: 2018
225 West 57th Street is a residential project by Extell Development Company. The building will be the second tallest skyscraper in New York City as well as the US when it's finished.
7. Lotte World Tower, Seoul, South Korea
Height: 1,819 ft, Floors: 123
Completion: 2016
The Lotte World Tower is estimated to cost $1.25 billion, and will tower over the skyline of Seoul. The skyscraper took 13 years of planning and site preparation before it was approved in 2010 to begin construction.
6. Pearl of the North, Shenyang, China
Height: 1,863 Feet, Floors: 113
Completion: 2018
The Pearl of the North will cost an estimated $1.6 billion and will be a mixed-used building in Shenyang, China. It will have 34 floors of offices as well as a 320-room five star luxury hotel, according to Architects Journal.
5. Goldin Finance 117, Tianjin, China
Height: 1,957 feet, Floors: 128
Completion: 2016
The Goldin Finance 117, also known as the China 117 Tower, is a skyscraper under construction in Tianjin, China. The building is estimated to cost over $820 million and will (of course) have 117 storeys.
4. Wuhan Greenland Centre, Wuhan, China
Height: 2,087 ft, Floors: 125
Completion: 2017
Wuhan Greenland Centre is an under-construction tower in Wuhan, China. The building is expected to cost around $4.5 billion and has energy-saving features.
3.Ping An Finance Center, Shenzhen, China
Height: 2,165 feet, Floors: 115
Completion: 2016
Ping An Finance Center is under construction in Shenzhen, China. The tower will cost an estimated $678 million and will be one of the tallest building in the world when it's finished in 2016.
2. Suzhou Zhongnan Center, Suzhou, China
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Height: 2,392 ft, Floors: 138
Completion: 2020
The Suzhous Zhongnan Center is a skyscraper under construction in Suzhou, China. The project will cost an estimated $4.5 billion, and it will be the tallest building in China when it's completed.
1. Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Height:3,281 feet, Floors: 167
Completion: 2018
Expected to cost $1.2 billion to construct, Kingdom Tower will be a mixed-use building with a luxury hotel, office space, serviced apartments, luxury condos, and the world’s highest observatory.
The Tower will be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and will soar over 550 feet taller than the United Arab Emirates’ Burj Khalifa. The height of the Kingdom Tower will require the world’s most sophisticated elevator system, and the building will have a total of 59 elevators.
When finished, it will become the tallest building in the world — but who knows for how long.
SEE ALSO: See The View From The Tops Of The World's Tallest Skyscrapers
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The 10 Most Expensive Skyscrapers In The World
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As skyscraper heights grow higher, and higher, the cost to build increases as well. Not only are some of the newest skyscrapers in the world getting taller, they are also getting fancier, with the newest technologies, latest materials, and sustainable concepts.
Emporis, "a leading database of information about building and construction projects, based in Germany," compiled a list of the 10 most expensive skyscrapers in the world.
At $3.9 billion, One World Trade Center in New York City is the most expensive building by far, beating out the second place finishers by $2 billion.
1. One World Trade Center, New York, N.Y.—$3.9 Billion
Height: 1,776.02 ft
Completion: 2014
One World Trade center is the same height as the Twin Towers which formally stood in the same place. Inside, the building has a stairwell dedicated to the firefighters lost in 9/11.
2 (tie). The Palazzo, Las Vegas, Nev.—$1.9 Billion
Height: 642.01 ft
Completion: 2007
Upon completion, The Palazzo became the highest building in Las Vegas. The hotel contains a casino, a shopping center, and a theater.
2 (tie). The Shard, London, England—$1.9 billion
Height: 1,003.94 ft
Completion: 2013
The Shard uses 30% less energy than other buildings of its size because of an "extensive use of energy-saving materials." It is also the tallest building in London.
4. Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan—$1.76 billion
Height: 1,670.60 ft
Completion: 2004
Taipei 101's construction is based on the number 8, which is a lucky number Chinese culture. A Feng Shui expert approved most of the design and layout of the building.
5 (tie). Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates—$1.5 billion
Height: 2,719.82 ft
Completion: 2010
The Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest building. The building uses the condensation from the air conditioning system to irrigate the landscaping.
5 (tie). Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort, Huzhou, China—$1.5 billion
Height: 330 ft
Completion: 2013
The resort, designed by MAD Architects, gets completely lit up and night and is meant to resemble the moon rising over Lake Tai. Every room in the hotel is designed to get daylight at all hours from every direction.
7. CapitaGreen, Singapore—$1.4 billion
Height: 793.96 ft
Completion: 2014
Much of the building's facade will be covered in live plants and the building's roof will have a "sky forest." The sky forest's cool air will be pushed down through the building to naturally cool the offices.
8. Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany—$1.03 billion
Height: 360.89 ft
Completion: 2016
The Elbphilharmonie is being built on top of a former storage facility and uses the original structure's base. The building will have residential housing, a hotel, and a concert hall.
9 (tie). Bank of America Tower, New York, N.Y.—$1 billion
Height: 1,200.01 ft
Completion: 2009
The Bank of America Tower is the 4th tallest building in NYC and is used as a commercial office. The building reuses rainwater and has an "automatic daylight dimming system."
9 (tie). Chifley Tower, Sydney, Australia—$1 billion
Height: 800.85 ft
Completion: 1992
Chifley tower is used for offices and retail and is one of the "most prestigious" in Australia. A 400 ton steel pendulum hangs on the top floor of the building to counteract the building's sway in the wind.
SEE ALSO: The 10 Tallest Skyscrapers of the Future
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Is This New York's Next Great Neighborhood?
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Work crews are scrambling underneath New York City to finish the city's first major new subway stop in 25 years, a fast-track project intended to revitalize a long-neglected slice of Manhattan.
The city's transit authority has been working for seven years on the $2.4 billion extension of the Number 7 subway line, once known mainly for transporting fans to New York Mets baseball games and the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
Now the line will extend far west to 11th Avenue in Manhattan, a run-down neighborhood long known as Hell's Kitchen that is home to a major bus station and tunnel entrances to New Jersey.
Like most big infrastructure projects in U.S. cities, the extension has suffered some delays, but it has moved along far faster than a Second Avenue subway that is still under construction after more than 80 years of planning.
The project was sped along by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who came up with a novel financing structure that allowed the project to avoid the time-consuming process of seeking federal funding but has drawn some critics who contend it leaves local taxpayers on the hook for decades.
Problems with a fire alarm and security system have pushed completion until April 2015, said Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which runs the city's subways, buses and some commuter rail. Previous delays were blamed on mechanical failures of two inclined elevators to carry passengers to street level.
"It's a very, very important subway extension. It's going to be huge," said Kenneth T. Jackson, who teaches history and social sciences at Columbia University and editor of The Encyclopedia of New York City.
The new station is intended to be the linchpin of the Hudson Yards development, with more than a dozen skyscrapers, a cultural center and parks replacing a neighborhood once dominated by rundown industrial buildings.
Key to the project's success is its route, through the city's busiest transit hubs of Grand Central and Times Square, opening up the far west side to the entire mass transit system, said Mitchell Moss, professor of urban planning at New York University. It will also serve as an entry point to the popular High Line elevated park.
The Hudson Yards station is expected to see 200,000 daily riders by 2025, according to MTA projections, on a system that sees 5.8 million riders each day. By way of comparison, the busiest station, Times Square, today sees 197,696 daily riders.
SPEED AT A PRICE
The speed comes at a cost to the city. Bloomberg pushed through an innovative financing scheme that leap-frogged federal rules that can slow the development of transit projects, but means it has no financial support from Washington.
"The only way this was done is that the City of New York had the vision and took the initiative to finance it rather than to wait for the U.S. Department of Transportation processes, which would mean a terminal death," NYU's Moss said.
Critics said bypassing those federal hurdles also meant missing federal aid. The city's offer of steep property tax breaks to Hudson Yards real estate developers left a greater burden for taxpayers, they said.
"For city taxpayers, it's a horrendous deal," said James Parrott, chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a non-profit research organization that opposed the financing plan. "It's costing city taxpayers money now, and will cost them for the next two or three decades."
Charles Brecher of the Citizens Budget Commission, a civic organization that has not taken a stand on the financing, said it will be long time before the Hudson Yards buildings are valuable enough to pay off the city-backed bonds.
"In the short run, the city has had to subsidize it," said Brecher, CBC's consulting director of research.
To extend the line, the MTA bored a 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometer) tunnel from West 26th Street and 11th Avenue to Times Square, said Michael Horodniceanu, the MTA's head of capital construction. The station itself will occupy a 1,212-foot (369 meter) cavern.
"If you take the Empire State Building and put it on its side, it would probably fill that," Horodniceanu said.
The new station could transform its neighborhood by drawing in new residents and businesses in the way a decision a century ago to bury a surface rail line that left a sooty trail north from Grand Central Terminal changed that stretch of Manhattan, observers said.
That street, Park Avenue, is now synonymous with luxury.
"This is the equivalent," NYU's Moss said. "We're taking an area that people avoided, and making it an area that people want to go to."
(Editing by Scott Malone and Nick Zieminski)
SEE ALSO: This Is The $20 Billion Future Of Manhattan's West Side
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This Is What San Francisco Would Look Like If Its Victorian-Style Homes Were Skyscrapers
Generally, I’m not anti-development in San Francisco, given the right circumstances. It breaks my heart to see gorgeous old buildings torn down to make room for huge new ones that lack any version of character, but I like the idea of people 100 years from now fawning over the iconic architecture of the early 21st century.
But will they? My biggest beef with the influx of new buildings is how uninspired most of them are. Every time scaffolding comes down on Market Street or a new rendering is released on the Internet, I shake my head and think, “Really? You were given the opportunity to design a building in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and THIS is what you came up with?”
Imagine how cool it would be if new buildings paid homage to the details of San Francisco’s trademark architecture – what it would look like to have ornate bay windows and turrets shooting up 20 stories. We asked Tim Delger to Photoshop Victorian-style skyscrapers in SF.
SEE ALSO: Trulia's Beautiful New San Francisco Headquarters Was Inspired By A Tree
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Take A Tour Of The New Sky Garden At The Top Of London's Infamous Walkie-Talkie Building
The Walkie-Talkie building in London's financial district, which became infamous last summer for melting cars, opened its top-floor sky garden to the public at the start of January.
Business Insider got a sneak peek of the new attraction (free tours are already fully booked until early April), which boasts three restaurants and offers some of the best rooftop views of the capital.
The Walkie-Talkie building is located at 20 Fenchurch Street. Let's head to the top.
The Sky Garden sits about 150 metres above the city, giving you unique views like this one.
The terrace is 35 floors above street level, which looks impressively far away from up here.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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See The Spectacular Views From The 15 Tallest Buildings In The World
The tallest building in the world stands at 2,717 feet, sometimes soaring above the clouds.
It's amazing to think human beings crafted these seemingly gravity-defying, modern marvels of engineering.
Still, what's most impressive above some of these skyscrapers is the view from the top.
Using Worldcam, a search engine that lets you discover the latest Instagram photos taken around the world, we found pictures snapped from the observation decks of the 15 tallest buildings.
15. Princess Tower – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
13. Jin Mao Tower – Shanghai, China
split
12. Trump International Hotel and Tower* – Chicago, United States
*Trump International Hotel and Tower doesn't have an observational deck, as the top floors are residences. This is the highest view we could find.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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The 50 Most Innovative Buildings Of The Last Decade
The Council of Tall Buildings, a Chicago-based organization of architects and designers, has just published its Innovative 50 list, their ranking of the most innovative buildings of the last 15 years.
To be included, the buildings had to challenge the "traditional typology of tall buildings in some way, through innovation in form, design, façade, environmental approach, technologies."
In other words, this isn't just a list of the tallest buildings on Earth, although many of them would qualify.
The Tower at PNC Plaza, Pittsburgh USA. 172 metres tall, construction started in 2011 and hasn't concluded yet.
1 Bligh Street, Sydney, Australia. 139 metres tall, famous for its ecological development and glass foyer.
Al Bahar Towers in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The 145 metre-tall twin towers are encased in solar panels.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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This video of teenagers dangling at the top of a Hong Kong skyscraper is beyond intense
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This dramatic video captures a group of daredevil photographers taking selfies on top of a Hong Kong skyscraper.
Captured using a specially adapted selfie stick, the sweat-inducing images show the lengths some people will go to for the most extreme self portrait.
Pictured at heights over 360 metres in the air, the nerve-shredding photographs show the group of photographers dangling by one hand and even tip-toeing across tiny ledges.
Seemingly unfazed by the dazzling heights, the barmy bunch ventured around the city of Hong Kong in search of any building that caught their eye.
Despite the fact that one slip would result in the certain death, the fearless friends were determined to capture the sprawling urban landscape as never seen before. Although strict security measures are in place in most of the buildings, the crazy climbers managed to evade capture by simply giving the guards a taster of their stunning images.
Taken by Russian photographer, Alexander Remnov, 19, the intrepid teenager has now added the towering harbour to a list of international cities that he has already had the pleasure of climbing.
Alexander said: "There was one dangerous moment when we tried to get the top of The Centre tower, it became to crowded at the top and there wasn't enough room for three of us so we decided to go back down. We were lucky not to meet any police, but we did have some discussions with guards.
"Once we explained our mission to them and then showed them our cameras, they simply smiled and let us free. Hong Kong is one of the best places I have visited but I think I would need more than a month to visit all the best view points.
"We don't know what city we will visit next but we're certain it's going to be a city with skyscrapers!"
Produced by Devan Joseph. Video courtesy of Carter News and Associated Press.
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One of the world's tallest residential luxury skyscrapers caught fire in Dubai
Some people have been forced to escape a residential skyscraper, the Marina Torch in Dubai, as it burned early Saturday morning, local time.
The Torch is a building with 79 stories above ground in the Dubai Marina, United Arab Emirates. It's in the northeast section of a heavily populated cluster of skyscrapers.
Local media reported high winds pushed the flames throughout the 1,100-foot tower in the early morning hours. It's unclear whether anyone was injured.
Emergency crews surrounded the building, one of the tallest residential structures in the world.
Medics said there were no casualties. At least a dozen fire trucks were able to extinguish the blaze several hours after the fire alarm went off around 2 a.m. local time (2200 GMT Friday).
However, some residents said they had been told by staff that the building's fire alarms did not immediately sound and that the reception at The Torch was alerted to the fire by staff in an adjacent building.
"They (the Torch receptionists) got a call from Princess Tower telling them the building was on fire. The alarms were not operating automatically," Archibald Jurdi, who lives on the 76th floor, told Reuters.
Reuters could not independently verify the status of the fire alarms. The building manager could not be reached for comment.
Here are some pictures from the scene:
Torch Tower resident: "You can actually see the flames being pushed out by the fire hoses" - http://t.co/H1LO5CQxgihttps://t.co/BA7qTTDN5H
— ABC News (@ABC) February 21, 2015#BREAKING Images posted online show fire breaks out in Dubai’s Torch skyscraper. No reported injuries yet.@RaMiAlGaDipic.twitter.com/DBbOtVpGw3
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) February 21, 2015Vine video shows bright flames that engulfed what appeared to be several stories of the high-rise.
DEVELOPING: Witness videos show Torch Tower skyscaper in Dubai partially on fire: http://t.co/ATbsCWFlNb - VINE: https://t.co/oRo1Og6VQu
— Xana O'Neill (@xanaoneill) February 21, 2015Residents said the fire had been fanned by high winds, dislodging chunks of metal and raining glass down on the area below the building, including onto a nearby road more than 100 meters (330 feet) away.
Traffic in the area was diverted and residents of two other nearby buildings in the emirate's Marina district, home to thousands of expatriate professionals, were also evacuated, the witness said.
Many of those standing outside the building were dressed in pyjamas, with others in evening dress as they returned from the city's many bars and restaurants on a weekend.
One woman, who did not give her name, stood on the street crying, saying she had rushed back fearing for her belongings after a friend contacted her about the fire. Her fear turned to relief when she saw the lower floors where she lived were not affected.
Residents of neighboring towers were returning to their homes around 0430 local time, but residents of The Torch were told they would not be allowed back into the building until the fire officials gave approval later on Saturday. Residents of upper floors that were most affected were told it would be days before they could return.
Dubai civil defense officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the cause of the fire remained unclear.
Dubai is one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a Gulf Arab trade and investment hub.
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Formerly the Sears Tower, the Willis Tower could soon become the Blackstone Tower
Blackstone Group has been buying and selling iconic properties for years.
Late Friday, the private equity firm reportedly had a new one in its sights: Chicago's Willis Tower, previously known as the Sears Tower.
A report in Crain's Chicago pegged the purchase price for the skyscraper at roughly $1.5 billion; Blackstone is likely going to invest in the Willis Tower through one of its real-estate funds, rather than its flagship private equity fund.
Real estate makes up a big portion of Blackstone's enormous portfolio. According to its website, the firm has assets under management approaching $291 billion, and its real-estate portfolio makes up $81 billion of that. The Willis Tower, at 1,450 feet tall, was the tallest building in the world from 1973 until 1998.
Blackstone has a history of doing deals with iconic properties
The private equity firm is reducing its stake in another hotel chain, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, which has posted gains in excess of 30% since its late-2013 debut on public markets. Though shares have risen, Blackstone keeps chipping away at its stake, dumping stakes of about $2 billion worth of stock at a time into what looks like a receptive public market.
Hilton, which still counts Blackstone as its largest investor, has also made divestitures of its own: namely, the Waldorf-Astoria, which was sold last year from the chain to Anbang Insurance Group Co. in a deal worth nearly $2 billion.
Blackstone has a lot to be happy about right now
Blackstone is raising its seventh flagship private equity fund, which could grow to the $16 billion to $20 billion range, a source told Business Insider. In part thanks to the relative success of its largest all-time investment (Hilton) Blackstone is making the most of heady times, as other PE firms are struggling to raise new funds following postcrisis disappointments.
Also, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman is enjoying heady times, while others figureheads in the private equity industry have experienced various difficulties — from key assets' bankruptcies to collusion inquiries to disappointing funds. Schwarzman was reportedly the top-paid private equity executive last year.
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Here are the tallest buildings throughout history
Defying gravity by building towards the sky is no easy, or inexpensive, feat.
Designer Martin Vargic of Halcyon Maps has made the six graphics below, documenting the rise of the tallest buildings throughout history. All black silhouetted buildings have held the record for that continent's tallest, while red silhouetted buildings have have also held the record of world's tallest. The grey silhouetted structures are notable towers and monuments and are included just for context.
Check out the graphics below:
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Watch this eagle with a camera take off from the top of the world's tallest building
Conservation movement Freedom Conservation set a new world record by successfully flying an eagle equipped with a camera from the top of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
Using one of the world’s smallest action cameras, a Sony Action Cam Mini, the flight recorded an extraordinary bird’s eye perspective of the landscape.
Video courtesy of Freedom Conservation
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Architects have come up with an ingenious plan for skyscrapers that don't cast shadows
London isn't exactly known for its bright and sunny climate, so the idea of more skyscrapers darkening the horizon of that metropolis isn't very appealing to people who enjoy seeing the sun every once in a while.
But the skyscrapers are coming. A projected 250 are planned for the city, and designers are developing solutions that might give Londoners a brighter future.
One design that's been getting a lot of attention was developed by architecture firm NBBJ, and seeks to eliminate the chilly dark spaces around a building by using another building to help reflect sunlight into shadowy spaces.
The mirrored faces of the buildings bounce light between the two, making sure that light actually reaches the ground below. Unlike other notoriously hot London Skyscrapers, the light that reaches the ground will be warming rather than burning, so it won't melt things. A similar concept is already in use in other locations in Europe, where mirrors reflect light into towns situated in dark valleys.
The proposed design is for a very specific place, in Greenwich, near the Prime Meridian. The architects used a special algorithm to figure out the ideal placement of the two buildings in relation to the sun. In other cities, plans might require a bit of an adjustment.
"In a hot [city] like Dubai, what you might do is modify the form so you have less reflection in summer," Christian Coop, design director in NBBJ's London office told Co.Design.
[Via Wired]
This article originally appeared on Popular Science
This article was written by Mary Beth Griggs from Popular Science and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
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