Sited in southwestern France, near the Pyrenees, the city of Toulouse is steeped in history with 16th- and 19th-century structures, Gothic churches and Medieval villages. Known as France’s fourth-largest city after Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the ‘pink city’ – as Toulouse is informally known, due to its abundance of terracotta-bricked buildings – has it all; the pleasant, picturesque towns and villages, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a university dating back to 1229. One thing that remained missing, however, is a modern-day, sky-reaching tower that rises above the historical streets of the city looking out across the charming panorama of the Pyrenees. Thanks to American-Polish Architect, Daniel Libeskind, this is set to change with the addition of a curvaceous design enshrouded in flora, known as the Occitanie Tower.

With population growth on the rise across the globe and gross floor area (GFA) in decline, architects have been looking to the sky in search of alternatives to meet the world’s housing demand for many years. However, with the development of high-rise alternatives for residential applications, many towns and cities have become densely urbanised and often neglect biodiversity, connecting us back to our natural habitats. One architect practice, however, is changing the face of high-rise structures in the populous city of Lagos.

Travelling back into the not so distant past, many may recall Daniel Libeskind’s vertical state-of-the-art PwC Tower for Milan’s CityLife masterplan that adorned the news pages of FC&A’s third edition of 2018. Adjacent to Libeskind’s impressive structure, informally known as ‘The Curved One’, proudly soars Zaha Hadid’s helical, striking Generali Tower. Collectively, the houses of Libeskind, Hadid as well as Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, who designed the third tower in Milan’s CityLife high-rise tripartite – CityLife Tower – have all delivered a majestic addition to Milan’s skyline.

MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, has completed ‘Chaoyang Park Plaza’, which includes the Armani apartment complex. Positioned on the southern edge of Beijing’s Chaoyang Park – the largest remaining park in Beijing’s Central Business District (CBD) area – the 220,000m² complex includes 10 buildings which unfold as a classic Shan Shui painting on an urban scale.

Marina One in Singapore is to date the largest project by Ingenhoven Architects. The project was officially opened on 15th January 2018 by the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak.