Cyclists in Belgium's Limburg province are being brought closer to nature in a variety of innovative and unusual ways. "25 years ago Belgian Limburg was the first region worldwide to develop a cycle node network, where you cycle from junction to junction," explained Igor Philtjens, Minister for Regional Tourism, chairman of Visit Limburg and the driving force behind the projects. "We were a pioneer in recreational cycling tourism, but over

The Shimao Wonderland InterContinental (IHG), the world’s first underground hotel, has opened in Songjiang, around 22 miles (35 km) from Shanghai in the Sheshan Mountain Range. Built in a 100m (328ft)-deep abandoned quarry, the hotel, which has been in development for a decade, was designed by Studio JADE+QA and the British architectural firm Atkins. Situated around a manmade lake and amid cascading waterfalls, the 18-storey, 336-guest room structure will be

The Brisbane Transit Centre – often cited as the Australian city’s ugliest building – is to be demolished to make way for a metro station and leisure district, dominated by an entertainment area from architects Populous. The project was confirmed in last week’s Queensland State Budget 2018-9, with deputy premier and treasurer Jackie Trad pledging that “the western gateway to the city will be totally transformed.” When complete, the new

Hospitality group Alila has opened a second location in China, converting a historic sugar mill into a 117-bedroom “modern retro” resort in Guilin, overlooking the Li River. Designed by Dong Gong of Vector Architects with interiors by Ju Bin of Horizontal Space Design, the vision of the Alila Yangshuo resort is to integrate the new with the old, and the designers have incorporated elements of the 1960s sugar mill architecture

As the Museum of London formulates plans for its £250m (US$324m, €291m) move to the iconic Smithfield Market, its exhibition team is digging deep to present London’s history in new ways – including opening up the site's underground passages for a glimpse of what the city was like in Victorian times. The museum was given the green light to move to its new home in January 2016, after alternative redevelopment

Following hot on the heels of electric cars, solar-storing roof tiles, and the super-fast Hyperloop transport system, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has begun work on yet another city-shaping concept: a network of underground of tunnels that will ease congestion in gridlocked cities. Musk has founded a new firm, drily named The Boring Company, to develop the concept – with the first tunnel network visualised for Los Angeles. A video has

Danish architecture firm Kvorning Design & Communication have unveiled designs for a new visitor centre in Delphi, Greece, with experiences above and below ground chronicling the history of the Vagonetto-Fokis Mining Park. The attraction, which has allowed visitors to follow the lives of miners and visit a real underground gallery since it opened in 2003, will open its new visitor centre in September. The museum’s exhibits are inspired by the

Plans to build “the world’s first underground park” in New York have taken a major step forward with the city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYEDC) approving the project. The US$60m (€53.6m, £44.8m) Lowline scheme, designed by James Ramsey of Raad Studio, will see the transformation of an abandoned underground trolley terminal in Manhattan's Lower East Side into a community-oriented public and cultural space. Solar technology will directly deliver sunlight underground, lighting

The second phase of a 15-year restoration and redesign programme at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is nearing completion, with construction progressing on the new entrance, open courtyard and underground gallery designed by architecture studio AL_A. The £49.5m (US$71.4m, €63.5m) Exhibition Road Building Project – the V&A’s largest architectural scheme in the last 100 years – is expected to open in 2017 now that 95 per cent of its

We’ve had suggestions for a floating cycle highway along London's river Thames and and another in the sky. Now a quirky scheme has been proposed to enable people to travel around London with ease – a moving walkway following the city’s underground Tube train network. The concept, designed by architects at NBBJ, would reinvigorate urban mobility in the capital, which suffers from overcrowding during rush hour. The studio proposes replacing

The New York architects working to create the Lowline – the world's first underground park – have launched a scaled down version of the project as a test bed. The Lowline Lab, launched this week by RAAD Studio, will act as a research laboratory, enabling the team to explore which plants grow in the darkened conditions. The experiment has been funded through the Kickstarter crowd funding platform. When complete, the

A popular Snarkitecture-designed exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, drew to a close this week, attracting almost 200,000 visitors in just two months. The temporary interactive exhibit, entitled BEACH, was installed in the museum’s famous Great Hall and made from a mishmash of construction materials and an ocean of 750,000 recyclable plastic balls. “We had around 182,000 visitors total,” a spokesperson for the National Building Museum told

The 10,000sq ft (929sq m) vinotherapy-focused spa has opened at the five-star Spanish retreat Abadía Retuerta LeDomaine – an exclusive abbey hotel and winery dating from 1146. Designed by Marco Serra, the modern spa – called El Santuario – was built underground to maintain the property’s historic ambiance. Below the abbey’s original stables and within close proximity to the Duero River, Serra had to overcome the high moisture level of

Dutch design studio RAAAF, Rietveld Architecture-Art-Affordances, is creating a subterranean space in Groningen beneath a demolished sugar factory. The project, called After Image, will be used for exhibitions, installations, movie screenings and performances. Being undertaken on behalf of the municipal council, After Image will reveal an exciting underground world constructed on millions of pillars. After the demolition of the sugar factory, only a desolate concrete area seemingly remained, but RAAAF

The team behind an ambitious New York design project to create the ‘world's first underground park’ have turned to Kickstarter to raise US$200,000 (€179,000, £127,000) for technical development for the complex scheme. The US$60m (€53.8m, £38.2m) Lowline project, designed by James Ramsey of Raad Studio, would see the transformation of an abandoned, underground trolley terminal in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It would harness solar power to become a fully-lit public

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's original entrance to the world's first underwater tunnel is to be turned into a cultural venue for music performances, theatre and events. The 65ft (19.8m) deep entrance shaft to the Thames Tunnel, in Rotherhithe, London, was the first project the famous engineer worked on. Architectural practice Tate Harmer has now designed a freestanding cantilevered staircase that will provide public access to the circular ‘sinking shaft’ for the

Design firm Gensler has been awarded a London Planning Award for its London Underline concept – a network of cycle and pedestrian paths running beneath the city. Gensler first came up with the idea for the London Underline in 2014. With London’s population higher than ever, the firm looked for ways to expand public space and offer alternative transport routes. The answer, they found, was underground in disused tube tunnels.