Week's top news: Richard Meier reflects, Snøhetta reveal latest landmark and Jan Gehl hits out at soulless cities
Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Nike’s sci-fi gym pop-up in Shanghai to an announcement about the 2017 Pritzker Prize.
Monday
• The rise of modernism and motorism has created “technocratic, soulless cities which make cars and developers happy, but have no concern for people living in and using them,” according to Danish architect and urban designer Jan Gehl. Read here.
• David Rockwell has designed Starwood’s first Luxury Collection hotel in Tokyo – an “ethereal dream-like environment” that has now opened in the historic heart of the Japanese capital. Read here.
• Visitors to China’s capital can experience the Beijing National Stadium from a dramatic new perspective following the the opening of a corridor along the structure’s roof. Read here.
Tuesday
• Hotel giant MGM Resorts International has opened its latest luxury resort in America; the US$1.4bn (€1.7bn, £1.4bn) MGM National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Read here.
• Danish architectural practice 3XN have won the competition to design a new, largely wooden, aquatic centre in the Swedish city of Linkoping. Read here.
• The winner of the 2017 Pritzker Prize for architecture will be revealed on Wednesday 1 March, it has been announced. Read here.
Wednesday
• Failing to consider the context in which they're working is "the biggest mistake" made by architects today, argues Richard Meier in an exclusive interview with CLAD. Read here.
• Researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have discovered a way of producing graphene using soybean oil. Read here.
• The reinstallation of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A) Aston Webb Screen – previously a solid stone wall hiding the building’s Victorian boilers – has been completed, breaking down the separation between the street and the museum. Read here.
• Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) will design a new factory and visitor experience for mineral water company San Pellegrino, after finishing top of an international competition for the project. Read here.
Thursday
• International architects Snøhetta have “blended extroversion and introversion” in their design for the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Saudi Arabia. Read here.
• International design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati have developed a digitally-operated reflecting canopy to provide shading, climate adaptation and green energy generation in cities. Read here.
• The concepts of “old world design and the glory of British craftsmanship” have inspired the designers of a 73-bedroom hotel that will open in London this summer. Read here.
Friday
• Chinese architecture and design studio Coordination Asia have completed a series of sci-fi tinged pop-up running hubs for sports giant Nike at Shanghai’s Times Square. Read here.
• Health and wellbeing specialist Victoria Lockhart has announced she is leaving her role at global design, engineering and consultancy firm Arup to take up a position at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Read here.
• A Polar Ocean World for Shanghai along with a ski park and planetarium have been identified as part of a larger masterplan to redevelop the city’s Pudong area, drawing up to 10 million visitors annually. Read here.
• The new and improved medical spa and hotel, Lanserhof Lans in the Austrian province of Lans is now open. Read here.
For a quick and comprehensive overview of all our recent stories, take a look at CLAD's Grid View mode.
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Richard Meier Snohetta Jan Gehl Bjarke Ingels Carlo Ratti architecture designUAE’s first Dior Spa debuts in Dubai at Dorchester Collection’s newest hotel, The Lana
Europe's premier Evian Spa unveiled at Hôtel Royal in France
Clinique La Prairie unveils health resort in China after two-year project
GoCo Health Innovation City in Sweden plans to lead the world in delivering wellness and new science
Four Seasons announces luxury wellness resort and residences at Amaala
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Three years after Pegasus Capital bought Six Senses, how close is the private equity firm to realising its goals for its first spa and hospitality investment? Pegasus’ founder Craig Cogut tells us what’s been achieved and what comes next