Urban Giants

We break down the world’s biggest projects: the bold, the brilliant, and the broken. Global megaprojects, every week.

[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

Just released a new video on the Harbin Opera House, this one’s personal. I’m an opera singer, but also obsessed with architecture. And this building blends both.

Sculpted by MAD Architects to echo wind and snow, it rises from the wetlands of northern China like a wave of frozen sound.

But beyond the spectacle, real questions: Who’s it for? Is it used? Was the 1.4B RMB price worth it for a post-industrial city?

Would love to hear your thoughts, especially if you’ve seen it in person (or performed there).

Full video below ⬇️
🎥 https://t.co/0Y4stzRA3L

#Harbin #architecture #opera #China #urbanism

[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

For Gehry, who no longer enters design competitions, this wasn’t just another commission. He accepted the project personally, recognising its symbolic importance for Taiwan’s cultural and architectural presence on the global stage.

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

Frank Gehry’s first major East Asian project has broken ground in Taiwan.
The CMU Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung will open in 2028, and it’s already being called a cultural landmark in the making.

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

The museum will house contemporary art exhibitions, education spaces, and research facilities. It also aims to serve as a cultural connector, with partnerships planned across Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, and Cambridge.

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

Set in the city’s Old Port district, this isn’t a blank-slate megaproject. It’s an attempt to stitch something new into a neighbourhood with deep history — quietly redefining what the skyline of Portland could be.

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

Coming soon to Portland, Maine: Old Port Square, a 380-foot tower by Safdie Architects that’s set to become the tallest building in the state.

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

The design takes its cue from Maine’s historic lighthouses — slender, vertical, and unmistakably coastal. But it’s not just about height. The project blends timber, glass, and local stone into a mixed-use hub with housing, hotel space, retail, and a public plaza.

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

Stunning, out of this world @3XN_GXN

[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

It’s not so different from what we’re seeing between India and Pakistan. India’s now threatening to cut off river flows under the Indus Waters Treaty. If that happens, Pakistan loses most of its freshwater supply. Yes, that’s in response to cross-border attacks, but it raises the bigger question.

Could something similar play out between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia?

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

Ethiopia’s dam on the Nile is nearly done. Biggest in Africa. Huge win for their energy ambitions, they want to power their grid and start exporting electricity.

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[Urban Giants @urbangiants]

But Egypt’s rightly taking issue with it. There’s no binding agreement on water security, and most of the country depends entirely on the Nile. If the flow drops during dry years, it’s not just a resource problem... it’s a potential humanitarian crisis.

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