DUO, a sculptural mixed-use complex integrating living, working and retail spaces with public gardens and cultural installations has been officially completed in Singapore. The project, designed by the practice of German architect Ole Scheeren, is significant from both an architectural and political perspective – as it represents a historic collaboration between the governments of Malaysia and Singapore through their respective state investment arms Khazanah and Temasek. Singapore was once a

Hospitality brand Andaz has opened its first hotel in Southeast Asia, the Andaz Singapore. Located within DUO – a large integrated development spread across two sculptural towers in the Ophir-Rochor district – the hotel features 342 contemporary guestrooms, including 26 suites, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing views of the city-state. German architect Ole Scheeren designed the concave skyscrapers, which are 186 and 170m high and clad in a latticework of hexagonal

Plans for a botanic garden sheltered beneath a duo of biomes in the Omani desert have been unveiled by Arup, Grimshaw Architects and Haley Sharpe Design (hsd). The Oman Botanic Garden spans 420 hectares (1,037 acres) on the Arabian Peninsula and consists of two boomerang-shaped glass biomes, a visitor centre and education and research facilities. Located in the north of the country, 35km (22m) from Muscat at the foot of

Residents of Sweden’s northernmost town can now relax in a rather unique type of sauna: a sculptural chamber encased within a giant golden egg. Designed by art and design duo Bigert & Bergström, Solar Egg is conceived as a social art work in which the people of Kiruna can meet and discuss the challenges facing their community. The town is being completely relocated so that mining company LKAB can extract

A husband-and-wife design team have transformed their own beachfront holiday home into a new resort; the first of a new brand of “ultimate wellbeing destinations.” Soo K. Chan, the founder of SCDA Architects, and hospitality designer Ling Fu, have used holistic design and environmental practices to create Soori Bali in Indonesia. The revamped resort will feature 48 private pool villas and residences, a cantilevered platform jutting over the Indian Ocean

Architects Höweler + Yoon have proposed an interactive ‘Living Lab’ for the Dubai 2020 Expo, which would creatively explore human empathy. The Empathy Pavilion, designed like a giant elevated cave, would house a 300-person capacity exhibition gallery on the ground floor, several workshop spaces on the second floor and a black box theatre on the top floor. The architects have partnered with the MIT Media Lab’s Opera of the Future