It was the year of the tall building down in Cannes, with Eric Kuhne鈥檚 V building in the vanguard

Exhibitors at Mipim were not put off by the row brewing in this country over the government鈥檚 plans to restrict the building of skyscrapers near heritage sites.

Instead it was the year of the tower, as several developers and architects chose the exhibition to launch high-rise schemes.

Architect Eric Kuhne said he hoped his 150m V building would give Birmingham 鈥渢he recognition that the Sears 黑洞社区 gave Chicago鈥�. The 拢150m scheme will include 600 apartments as well as a 鈥渟ky bar鈥� and observatory.

One of the wackiest schemes on show was The Lagoons, unsurprisingly planned for Dubai. The centrepiece of the $18bn (拢9bn) mixed-use scheme by developer Sama Dubai is a set of four flame-shaped towers.

Another talking point was architect Valode & Pistre鈥檚 Generali Tower in Paris, which at 300m tall and is one of a cluster of green towers planned for La D茅fense.

Also launched at Mipim

  • Foster + Partners鈥� mixed-use Zaryadye scheme next to the Red Square in Moscow
  • HOK鈥檚 masterplan for an urban community for 115,000 people in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi
  • Plans for the world鈥檚 largest residential tower, at 516m, in Dubai by Trident International Holdings
  • URS鈥� masterplan for a new city outside Moscow
  • A vision for a 鈥渃ity within a city鈥� in Verona, Italy, by Mario Bellini and Richard Rogers
  • Hive, an office in Manchester by Argent, designed by HKR Architects and Piercey Connor Architects

    More images from the exhibition at www.building.co.uk/mipim2007

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