World's Most Daring Architecture and Landscaping

I have always been fascinated with what man can achieve utilizing our current state of technology. We have donut-shaped buildings that are soon to be built in Dubai, UAE. We have a 1,776 feet tall Freedom Tower being built in New York City. We have a new "tallest structure of any kind" in North America going up in Chicago, called "The Spire." There is a skyscraper in Shanghai, known as the "Shanghai World Financial Center," that has a rectangular hole cut out of its top. The Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE recently took over "World's Tallest Freestanding Structure" title claims from the CN Tower in Canada. There are even taller buildings under consideration over the next several years.
In Japan, a whole international airport was built off-shore by building up the ground from the ocean floor. Holland has built levies and dikes to reclaim many square miles of otherwise tidal zones and ocean marshes. The Suez, Panama, and many other canals have been hewn from bedrock, desert, and jungle. Mankind has learned to reshape the very face of Earth.
Nowhere can this extreme engineering be seen more clearly than in one of the Emirates of the UAE. Dubai, which was led by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum and recently succeeded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is in the process of completely redefining the traditionally accepted meaning of land reclamation. With the vision of the previous Sheikh, and the conviction of his successor, the grand master plan of developing the Dubai coastline is on track.
Due to dwindling oil reserves, predicted to disappear by 2014, in the mostly desert state of Dubai, drastic steps have been taken to transform a small Emirate into the world's premier tourist destination. Islands in the shape of Earth's land masses have been created and dubbed "The World." There are three different palm-shaped island/peninsula protrusions also. There will be a crescent shaped "Waterfront" and associated islands and connecting bridges.
The reason that I am writing about these things is that most people that I am acquainted with have no idea what is going on around them beyond their own little world. I want to be a resource for friends and family so they may learn about the truly marvelous things humanity has achieved in the last decade. Please visit the development company Nakheel at www.Nakheel.com for a complete video tour of all its reclamation and development projects. See above for a few pictures of tall buildings and extraordinary land reclamation.