The B1M

The skyline of Paris had always been a work of art — until one building changed everything. Long labelled as the city's most hated skyscraper, the 210-metre Tour Montparnasse is now about to undergo a €300M overhaul. The aim? Not to celebrate it, but to make it disappear 👉 bit.ly/4quiUy7

Proposals for a high-speed rail loop that would link nine urban centres across the UK and Ireland have been put forward by RIBA President Chris Williamson.

The ‘Northern Loop’ would create a ‘dispersed but connected’ global city of around ten million people 👉 www.theb1m.com/article/high...

Permanent architecture is rare in Eastern Mongolia’s remote volcanic regions – but the new Volcano-In Visitor Center, designed by Plat Asia, dramatically challenges that status quo. The structure began opening to visitors on 1 January 2026.

📷 Plat Asia / Arch-Exist Photography

Chicago's 400 Lake Shore is steadily making its presence felt on the city's skyline. These great images by Nick Ulivieri captured recent construction progress on a site that will ultimately become home to two new residential skyscrapers.

📷 Nick Ulivieri [left] / Related Midwest [right]

This 210-metre skyscraper in Dubai will feature a glowing orb near its summit. MVRDV won a competition with its plans for Inaura, a hotel and apartment tower.

The architects said the orb was a "novel and curious way to steal the attention of onlookers".

📷 MVRDV / The Boundary

This new hospital is set to serve almost a million residents in Northern Italy. Zaha Hadid Architects won a design competition with its proposal for the new Malpensa Hospital that will unite the old Gallarate and Busto Arsizio hospitals into a single facility on one site between Milan and Varese.

Vietnam is building a $16BN new mega airport in an effort to rival Singapore's Changi International 👉 bit.ly/4sBWY6L

This massive $12.5BN new airport is currently under construction in Ethiopia. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for Ethiopian Airlines Group, phase one of Bishoftu International is set to serve 60 million passengers a year.

📷 ZHA

Touchdown. The $2.1BN Nissan Stadium will become the new home of the Tennessee Titans and could land Nashville the Super Bowl 👉 bit.ly/4rkQkkw

At an astonishing 335-metres, Tajikistan's "supertall" dam stands taller than New York's Chrysler Building and is now the tallest dam in the world 👉 bit.ly/4piZI6s

📷 Webuild

John Hopkins University has a new village-inspired student centre. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, the Bloomberg Student Center sits on the University's Homewood Campus in Baltimore and is formed by sustainably-sourced mass timber cubes that rise across the site.

📷 Laurian Ghinițoiu / Nic Lehoux

This timber stadium in Japan is designed to be completely disassembled. Conceived by VUILD, the 5,000-seat venue is set to become the home of Fukushima United FC. It's hoped the stadium can become a "symbol of recovery" in a region that's still haunted by the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster.

The Los Angeles Art District is set for an upgrade. City officials have now approved plans for the Bjarke Ingels Group-designed 670 Mesquit development that will include four connected towers rising to a height of 34-storeys.

📷 BIG

These sweeping residential skyscrapers are currently under construction in Dubai. The twin towers of the Binghatti Flare will rise to 34-storeys and 40-storeys respectively at Jumeriah Village Triangle.

The project will offer more than 1,300 new apartments when it completes in 2027.

📷 Binghatti

Manchester is to start developing plans for an underground rail system, with a flagship station at Manchester Piccadilly. The City’s mayor Andy Burnham confirmed the news and shared a map of how the network could appear (image 3) 🐝

📷 Image 3: TFGM

Tallinn's new Ülemiste Passenger Terminal is officially under construction. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and set to complete in 2028, the transport hub forms part of Rail Baltica: a vast high speed railway that will span 870-kilometres across three eastern European countries.

Bhutan is about to get a new airport. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, Gelephu International will serve the country's new Gelephu Mindfulness City and feature a modular diagrid structure made of locally sourced glulam timber, decorated with traditional Bhutanese painted carvings 👉 bit.ly/3GAeMMg

Hong Kong has a new sports complex. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, GO PARK Sai Sha is inspired by the region's traditional mountain villages and undulating landscapes.

📷 ZHA / Virgile Simon Bertrand

Technically China's Goldin Finance 117 is the sixth tallest building on the planet — only, it can't officially claim the title because it has never been finished. Now, it's being reported that works on the world's tallest abandoned building have restarted. Here’s why 👉 bit.ly/454ZLvz

📷 A Kaunas

New York’s inimitable 432 Park Avenue has had a rocky few years. Once the world’s tallest residential building, the 425.5-metre supertall skyscraper has become embroiled in legal disputes between its wealthy residents and its developers over alleged defects 👉 bit.ly/3GLySU5

Construction works on the controversial Tour Triangle skyscraper are steadily progressing in Paris. Designed by Herzog and de Meuron, the 42-storey office building divided opinion in the French capital for more than a decade before its approval.

📷 Herzog and de Meuron / Vincevinss

Benfica has unveiled a new masterplan for its Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. Designed by Populous and Saraiva + Associados, the proposals will reposition the stadium as an international sports and entertainment destination.

📷 Populous

This new 'lantern quarter' is set to be constructed in Bangkok. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, Hatai is inspired by traditional Thai lanterns and will rise in the city's Silom area. The project will feature two new hotels when it completes in 2028.

📷 Heatherwick Studio

Thessaloniki is about to get a 40,000 seat new stadium. Designed by Populous, the new home for Greek Super League team PAOK FC is inspired by the eagle on the club's emblem and will rise in the city's Toumba district. 

📷 Populous

Los Angeles has a $720M new art gallery. Designed by Peter Zumthor, the new David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) are now approaching completion after more than two decades of challenges.

The completed museum is due to open in 2026.

📷 LACMA / Iwan Baan

AS+GG has shared its shortlisted design for the Pearl River Delta Hub (Guangzhou New) Airport Competition. The concept is inspired by the form of a traditional Lingnan roof and is intended to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Foshan while offering an efficient spatial layout.

📷 AS+GG

This super-slender tower could become Australia’s tallest skyscraper. A consortium has submitted plans for the 393-metre One Park Lane on the Gold Coast.

The building would consist of two towers linked by a skybridge at their 22nd floors.

📷 One Park Lane

Why America is hollowing out a mountain 👉 bit.ly/3I0El9u

The world's tallest metro station is set to be constructed in Dubai. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), the 74-metre new Emaar Properties Station will open in 2029 and form part of the Emirate's $4.8BN new metro Blue Line.

📷 Dubai Media Office

YouTube video by The B1M The Grenfell Tower Fire: London’s High-Rise Scandal

This is a worthwhile video watching for those who heard of the Grenfall Tower fire in London that killed 72 people in 2017. It's especially relevant for those living in the UK where legislation, litigation, and remedial actions are still not fully in effect. Thanks @theb1m.bsky.social.