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Chicago-based firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill AS+GG has officially been announced as the design architects for the Kingdom Tower that is to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Initially planned to stand one mile 1.6 km high and be called the Mile-High Tower, the building was scaled down after soil testing in the area in 2008 cast doubt over whether the location could support a building of that height. Now the building will stand over 0.62 miles one kilometer tall, which will still allow it to overshadow the 2,717 ft. 828 m Burj Khalifa to claim the title of the world’s tallest building.

via Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower to claim world’s tallest building title.

The hashtag or “#” symbol has taken on a lot more use in recent years, especially with the rise of social media tools like Twitter, where it’s used to highlight popular topics. So in a way, it’s a fitting model for an apartment building designed to act as a self-contained neighborhood, which is exactly the idea behind the Cross # Towers planned for South Korea. Dutch architectural firm, Bjarke Ingels Group BIG, is modeling the look of the proposed building after the familiar symbol, by placing two interlocking bridges between two skyscrapers, which will also support outdoor park areas to mimic the sort of spaces you’d normally find on the ground.

via Korea plans hashtag-inspired skyscraper.