The Burj Khalifa in Dubai might be the world’s tallest building today but it had better be looking over its shoulder as the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah is on its heels.

The planned 1-kilometer tall – yes, in fact, just over 1,000 meters – tower, designed by Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture is not just going to edge out the Burj Khalifa by a few feet, but blast it out of the record books by a stunning 173 meters (approx: 600-feet).

Ironically, Smith will be beating his own design as it was he, while at a different firm, that designed Dubai’s record breaker.

Kingdom Tower will be built over the next 5 years and form the focal point for Kingdom City, a massive $20 billion development planned for the 5.3 million-square-meter site in northern Jeddah. The tower itself will house a Four Seasons hotel and serviced apartments, luxury condos, office space and ,the now obligatory, ‘world’s highest observatory’.

You can catch Smith talking about the world-beating project in a video after the jump.

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Just over a year ago we covered the ongoing construction of the stunning Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain.

Now, we’re happy to report its successful completion and it looks even better, and weirder, in real life than it did on the computer generated images.

“Metropol Parasol”, according to designers  J. MAYER H. Architects, “is the Redevelopment of the Plaza de la Encarnacíon in Seville…to become the new icon for Seville, – a place of identification and to articulate Seville’s role as one of the world´s most fascinating cultural destinations. It explores the potential of the Plaza de la Encarnacion to become the new contemporary urban centre.”

More great photos after the jump.

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