This week construction began on the world's largest building

This week on Dezeen, work started on the 400-metre-high cube-shaped Mukaab skyscraper in Riyadh, which is set to be the world's largest building.

Designed by architecture studio AtkinsRéalis, the cuboid skyscraper is being built as part of a new downtown district in the northwest of the Saudi capital.

When completed, it will overtake the Boeing Everett Factory in the USA, which has held the title of the world's largest building since it opened in 1967.

Elsewhere, Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning studio RCR Arquitectes revealed its design for a 380-metre-high skyscraper in Dubai, which it described as "unusually narrow".

Named Muraba Veil, the tower will have a long main facade but will only be 22.5 metres wide.

In other architecture news, the Vessel in New York designed by Heatherwick Studio reopened after a three-year closure with a steel mesh added to the exterior as a safety measure. It closed in 2021 following the fourth suicide at the viewpoint.

"We are pleased that the structure is now reopening," Heatherwick Studio told Dezeen. "We hope that it will continue to deliver the experience we originally envisioned as a unique place for exploration and a one-of-a-kind take on the city of New York."

We continued our mid-century modern series with profiles of Florence Knoll Bassett and Ray and Charles Eames that consider their impact on the design movement.

We also spoke to conservation experts about the challenges of preserving and maintaining mid-century modern homes. "Mid-century homes are a labour of love," they said.

In other news, the Dezeen team reported live from Dutch Design Week and rounded up six key trends from northern Europe's largest design event.

Highlights from the festival included an inflatable toilet for hikers, designed by Kunrui Peng as an alternative to burying faeces in the ground, which leaves lasting impacts on the environment.

The designer hopes that the toilet, weighing less than one kilogram, will be used for "convenient and responsible" pooing in the wild.

Popular projects featured on Dezeen this week included a doughnut-shaped weather balloon in China by Line+ Studio, a "low-key" rural retreat in the Greek countryside by Piers Taylor and the conversion of a brutalist printworks in Slovenia into offices.

This week's lookbooks featured bathrooms with see-through walls and house extensions that maximise space and light.

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