Dubai has made headlines in recent weeks for its financial woes, and many are saying this once-booming desert metropolis has gone bust. But the emirate does have something to celebrate: The Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, is due to officially open on January 4. Photo courtesy SOM The Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, is due to officially open on January 4. Related Links: World's Tallest Buildings Reconsidered Burj Dubai Breaks Record, and Keeps Going Dazzling Skyscrapers In a Desert City, a Skyline Grows Ever Higher As Economy Sank, Skyscrapers Soared Precisely how many feet this superlative tower rises

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill has broken ground on the $1.7 billion Digital Media City Landmark Tower in Seoul, South Korea. With a planned height of 2,100 feet, it is expected to be East Asia’s tallest tower by the time it’s completed in 2014. Image courtesy SOM The 725,000-square-foot skyscraper appears to swell slightly as it rises, evoking traditional Korean pottery that is slender at the base and flared at the top. Related Links: Work Under Way on Songdo City in Korea KPF Unveils Design for Korean Super Tower Construction of World's Worst Building ResumesEwha Womans University Campus Center “The Korean

A new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) laboratory in La Jolla, California, is back on track after receiving funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The $102 million lab, designed by a team led by GouldEvans architecture, Gibbens Drake Scott engineering, and Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, had been on hold since the beginning of 2008 due to a lack of funding. Image courtesy GouldEvans GouldEvans has designed a new lab for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Related Links: Architects Get Slice of Stimulus Pie GSA Awards $435 Million Contract GSA Contracts Start to Surge Special

Images courtesy Foster & Partners For 980 Madison Avenue, the developer initially wanted to add a pair of intersecting towers to the building (bottom). In May 2008, a revamped scheme was proposed that featured a five-story addition with a screen made of bronze-colored rods (middle). The scheme that finally was approved is smaller and lighter (top). Related Links: Foster Tries Again in Upper Manhattan New York's Toniest Residents Clash Over Foster Design After nearly three years of deliberation and modifications, a project by Foster + Partners at 980 Madison Ave on New York’s Upper East Side has received approval from

The five partners in the London office of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates have left to start their own practice, named PLP Architecture.

Images courtesy Diamond and Schmitt Diamond and Schmitt are designing the New Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, replacing French architect Dominique Perrault. After six years of drama and delay, the Russian government has selected a replacement architect and revised design for the New Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. On July 28, officials selected Toronto-based Diamond and Schmitt Architects for the job through an international competition. The firm, best known for Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, which opened in 2006, replaces French architect Dominique Perrault, who won an earlier high-profile competition for the commission in 2003. Perrault’s bold,

John Ullman While there are numerous nonprofits that aim to realize buildings for those in need, a fledgling Brooklyn-based organization wants to offer architectural assistance to a group of people it feels is underserved—the Tibetan exile community living in northeast India. Named Architecture for Tibet, American designer John Ullman founded the registered nonprofit after visiting the small town of Tawang in the Himalayas. The initial motivation for his trip didn’t come from any grand ambitions: he needed to fulfill community service requirements as part of NCARB’s Intern Development Program, he explains. However, while teaching basic engineering and working on a

Brooklyn Arts District Plods Ahead Despite delays and the cancellation of high-profile plans, the BAM Cultural District in downtown Brooklyn is slowly but surely moving forward. Envisioned as a hub of artistic activity clustered around the existing Brooklyn Academy of Music, four projects are scheduled to break ground later this year. Image courtesy Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Related Links: BAM's Next Wave BAM District Regains Momentum The district was originally organized around a master plan completed in the year 2000 by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, and included an Enrique Norten-designed glass library shaped like a