High-rise

Despite the challenges and delays caused by COVID-19, 2021 looks set to be an outstanding year for architecture. With this in mind, we've chosen five exciting projects we're looking forward to this year.

UK firm Heatherwick Studio's North American invasion continues with a pair of high-rise towers slated for Canada. Defined by an eye-catching tapering design, the high-rise buildings would make significant use of wood and incorporate lots of greenery.

Ateliers Jean Nouvel's under-construction Aquarela, in Quito, Ecuador, consists of a series of greenery covered residential high-rises that are meant to echo the topography of nearby mountains. The project is due for completion in 2023.

With over 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants, the Urban Forest is hailed as one of the world's most densely-forested greenery-covered buildings by Koichi Takada Architects. It will include sustainable technology like solar power and rainwater collection.

The 2019 World Building of the Year winner Mecanoo is leading a team that's creating a new tower in Amsterdam. Featuring an interesting stepped form and finished in brick, it will also incorporate greenery, solar panels and rainwater collection.

A significant amount of greenery is headed to inner-city Dallas, Texas, in the form of a new high-rise that will boast North America's tallest living wall. The building will rise to a height of 320 ft (97.5 m) and feature 40,000 plants.

C.F. Møller Architects has designed what it calls Sweden's tallest wooden building. The residential project is topped by a green roof and has been specifically designed so that it can be dismantled and recycled if required.

Music and architecture often meet, such as when Beyoncé inspired a skyscraper and Kanye West's attempts to get his affordable housing project off the ground. Now Pharrell Williams has helped design a pair of high-rise residential towers for Toronto.

High-profile Italian architect Renzo Piano's firm recently completed its first residential project in New York City. Consisting of two identical glass towers, 565 Broome Soho offers luxury residences, with high-end amenities to match.

Glass-clad skyscrapers need to be inspected on a regular basis, in order to ensure that the glass panes are securely attached and undamaged. Doing so might soon become much quicker and safer, with a little help from a special drone.

Fundamental Architects offers a rather unusual take on the high-rise with its Tower of the Sun concept. The eye-catching design is defined by a large circular hole at its center and would feature significant sustainable technology, drawing energy from the river it bridges.

Stefano Boeri received several awards for Milan's greenery-covered Bosco Verticale, and has since conceived similar buildings around the world. His studio's latest iteration on the Vertical Forest design is slated for Tirana, Albania, and will be covered in over 3,200 shrubs and bushes.