Design

Jeddah Tower Crosses 430 Meters and Presses On Toward the One-Kilometer Mark

By Jackson Chung August 5, 2026

Crews in Jeddah have pushed the Jeddah Tower, previously known as the JEC Tower, past another hard-won mark. The structure now stands 430 meters high with 107 floors finished, a clear signal that the long-stalled project has regained serious momentum. Roughly 570 meters of concrete and steel still need to rise before the tower reaches its planned height of more than one kilometer. When that day arrives, it will become the first building on Earth to cross that threshold and will take the title of world’s tallest from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

MVRDV’s Rotterdam Rocks Features Seven Giant Rocks Stacked High on the Maas as the City’s Climate Landmark

By Jackson Chung August 1, 2026

Photo credit: MVRDV
Visitors to the Netherlands approaching the south bank of Rotterdam’s river Maas will soon meet a structure that looks more like a geological formation than anything built by human hands. Seven massive, rounded forms pile one on top of another, their surfaces broken by deep pockets, ledges, and irregular openings. Greenery will spill from those openings. Water will collect in them. Birds and insects will find shelter there. The whole arrangement rises from the edge of a new tidal park in the Waterkant district, right where a future third city bridge is planned to touch down.

Step Into the Michigan Factory That Builds Every Real Eames Lounge Chair

By Bill Smith March 25, 2026

Photo credit: WSJ
Few pieces of furniture have earned a place in both design history and everyday luxury quite like the Eames Lounge Chair. The Wall Street Journal recently got a rare look inside the MillerKnoll factory in Zeeland, Michigan, where every authentic example is still assembled by hand, walking the production floor from raw wood all the way through to finished chair and making it very clear why each one carries a price tag somewhere between five and ten thousand dollars.

Magician Justin Flom’s Las Vegas Fun House is One Big Trick

By Bill Smith March 8, 2026

Justin Flom’s Las Vegas home is a true one-of-a-kind masterpiece, a real breathing reflection of his career in magic, with something unexpected around every corner. He created the entire building himself, transforming a typical house into a seriously off-the-wall playground of secret passages and faulty mechanics, and guests can see right away that nothing behaves as you’d normally expect.

Up-Close Look at Margherita Hut, Europe’s Highest Hotel at 14,940-Feet Above Sea Level

By Bill Smith February 6, 2026

The Margherita Hut is located at 14,940 feet (4,554 meters) above sea level on Punta Gnifetti, one of the steepest peaks in the Monte Rosa range and serves as a natural border between Italy and Switzerland. As previously said, this wooden hut is a bit of an oddity in that it is Europe’s tallest building while also serving as a simple refuge for climbers who can earn their stay by merely climbing the mountain. However, ‘earn’ means climbing up to it, which is not an easy feat.

1989’s Quiet Bet on the Home of the Future That Learned to Disappear

By Jackson Chung January 15, 2026

A 1989 segment on the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World included specialists attempting to present a picture of what life in homes would be like by 2020. Futurists, engineers, and TV personalities were all speculating on the shape of future dwellings, and their concepts gave a pretty good image of what that may look like, or at least tried to.

Shunde Yunlu Wetland Museum Stands as a Quiet Tower in an Unexpected Location

By Bill Smith January 3, 2026

Photo credit: Studio Link-Arc | Tian Fangfang
Deep within Yunlu Wetland Park in Shundes, south China, there’s a building that blends in with the trees and water, making it difficult to see from a distance, despite being right across from an island where thousands of egrets have made their home. Studio Link-Arc completed this museum a year ago, resulting in a space that serves as both a learning center for all things wetland as well as a great place to observe local wildlife.

JP MorganChase’s New Global Headquarters at 270 Park Avenue is World’s Largest All-Electric Skyscraper

By Jackson Chung October 26, 2025

Photo credit: Max Touhey / Nigel Young for JPMorganChase, Foster + Partners
JPMorgan Chase’s new global headquarters in NYC, 270 Park Avenue, is a 1,388 foot copper-colored beast designed by Foster + Partners. This 60 story building was built on the foundation of the historic Union Carbide Building, and an engineering marvel that’s both environmentally conscious a well as human-centered, housing 10,000 people.

IKEA’s Tiny Beds for Big Screens Unveiled as the Phone Sleep Collection Hits UAE Shelves

By Bill Smith October 20, 2025

IKEA has established a furniture empire that transforms our living rooms into flat-packing hubs and kitchens into comforting havens, but this latest move takes the business to a whole new level. In the UAE, where they’ve been operating for over 30 years, a completely new line of products known as the Phone Sleep Collection arrived softly at bedtime. No, these are not full-sized beds for your duvet. Instead, they’ve been scaled down to the size of your phone, which has most likely spent many late nights by your bedside.

Inventor Builds Surprisingly Low-Tech, Yet Functional, Hobbit House

By Bill Smith September 18, 2025

Matthew Perks, an inventor who often undertakes elaborate tech projects, has taken on a whimsical but practical project: building a Hobbit-inspired home in a backyard, all for under $5,000.