London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched the final phase of its huge new photography centre, making it the largest space in the UK housing a permanent photography collection. The V&A Photography Centre features seven galleries, showcasing 600 pieces from the V&A’s vast, 200-year-old photography collection. The first phase of the project launched in 2018, with three galleries designed by architects David Kohn. The final phase sees the addition of

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Toyota have unveiled plans for a prototype city of the future designed to be a living laboratory for testing new technologies, ways of living and approaches for sustainability. Woven City will cover 175ac (71ha) at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan and will be home to full-time residents, as well as researchers in different fields. Among the areas being studied will be autonomous technologies,

Ace Hotel has partnered with Shim-Sutcliffe Architects and Kengo Kuma & Associates for two 2020 openings in Toronto and Kyoto, respectively. Founded in 1999, Ace has eight locations across North America and one in London. The boutique operator seeks to embrace local culture with each of its hotels, which can result in strikingly different designs from place to place. Ace Hotel Toronto, which is slated to open in mid-to-late 2020,

Austria-based wellness operator Lanserhof has opened its first UK location at the historic Arts Club in London. The six-storey luxury health and wellness club – situated on Dover Market Street in Mayfair – has a focus on personalised services and houses a wide range of gym spaces equipped by Technogym, exercise and studio rooms and a full-service spa featuring treatment rooms and a cryotherapy chamber. Designed by Ingenhoven Architects, the

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has selected OMA and KOO to plan its US$95m (€85.1m, £75m) Center for the Arts. The 88,000 sq ft (8,175.4 sq m) complex will have a translucent roof with embedded photovoltaics that will reflect light from the performance halls. The facility – to be located on the school's north-west campus – will comprise a 500-seat concert hall and a 270-seat auditorium, as well

Luxury hotel operator Aman will open its third resort in Japan this November with the launch of Aman Kyoto, which will include a spa concept themed around the property’s natural spring water. Situated in a hidden garden close to Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Pavilion), the resort, with 24 bedrooms and two two-bedroom villas, draws on the country’s ryokan (traditional inn) and onsen (hot spring) concepts to provide an authentic yet contemporary

Photographs of Scotland’s first design museum, the V&A Dundee, have been released ahead of its 15 September opening. The building was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who commented: “The big idea for V&A Dundee was bringing together nature and architecture, to create a new living room for the city. I’m truly in love with the Scottish landscape and nature.” “I was inspired by the rugged cliffs of the north

The House of Hungarian Music by Sou Fujimoto – the architect behind such projects such as The Serpentine Gallery and the Musashino Art University Museum – is set to undergo construction on the shore of Városliget Lake in Budapest’s City Park. The building, part of an expansive national cultural initiative, will utilise transparent glass walls and a mushroom-shaped, perforated roof, to mimic the free-flowing, airy, and barrier-shattering attributes of music.

Architects Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) and city transformation company Sidewalk Labs, owned by Google’s holding company Alphabet, have teamed up to create a “prototype for a modular paving system which aims to make streets reconfigurable, safer and more accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and tomorrow’s self-driving vehicles”. Currently on exhibition in Toronto, The Dynamic Street is made up of a series of hexagonal modular paving slabs that can be picked up,

London practice Baharash Architecture have designed three self-sustaining biodome attractions for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are being developed to promote the country’s booming ecotourism market. Located in the eastern part of the UAE, in the Al Hajar Mountains, the project will provide facilities for a wildlife conservation centre, a restaurant, educational workshops and an adventure-based wilderness retreat – all housed within the three giant domes. The structures will

A planning application has been submitted for a classic car museum in Oxfordshire, UK, with American vintage car collector and philanthropist Peter Mullin behind the £35m (US$48m, €39.5m) plans. Mullin, founder of the M Financial Group and Chairman of its subsidiary, M Financial Holdings, is an avid car collector, establishing in 2010, the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California and also serving as the President of the American Bugatti Club.

With admirers from Steve McQueen to Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood to George Clooney, Pink to David Beckham – the iconic Triumph motorbike will be celebrated by all thanks to a new attraction opened in Hinckley, Leicester. The Triumph Factory Visitor Experience is laid out across eight themed zones, aimed at engaging its guests with the story of the historic manufacturer and demonstrating its prowess in design and engineering. Edinburgh-based Studio

A Post-earthquake reconstruction and demonstration project in the city of Zhaotong, China, has been declared the 2017 World Building of the Year. Designed by a team of researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the rammed-earth structure is a prototype home for an elderly couple living in Guangming Village. A devastating 2014 earthquake destroyed hundreds of houses in the region, and the project was conceived to demonstrate "a safe,

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) has invited young local architects to conceive an eye-catching temporary pavilion for Hong Kong, with high-profile designers including Thomas Heatherwick, Sou Fujimoto and James Corner judging their efforts. The inaugural Hong Kong Young Architects & Designers Competition is is intended as a platform for emerging architects and designers “to showcase their creativity and potential” and gain valuable experience. The competition is open to

Seven architecture studios have made it on to the final shortlist to design a new theatre in the heart of Edinburgh – the £25m Ross Pavilion and Gardens project. The studios in contention are: • Adjaye Associates (UK) • BIG Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark) • Flanagan Lawrence (UK) • Page Park Architects (UK) • Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter (Norway) • wHY (USA) • William Matthews Associates (UK) and Sou Fujimoto Architects

Design studios Motionspot and Ryder Architecture have been crowned winners of the Celia Thomas Prize, which promotes hotel design that is accessible for disabled people. The international accolade, which was presented at the RIBA Bespoke Access Awards in London, received submissions from as far afield as Germany, Russia, Hong Kong and Canada. The winning concept, called AllGo, is a universal approach to hotel room design that ensures all rooms are

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded £9.1m (US$11.5m, €10.7m) to the Silverstone Heritage Experience, guaranteeing development of a new permanent exhibition at the home of British motor racing. Sitting at the main entrance to the race circuit, the exhibition by Mather & Co will create a series of interactive exhibitions and displays to be housed inside the only remaining Second World War hangar on the Silverstone site. For the

Park Hyatt will follow Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and Luxury Collection in opening a high-end hotel in the ancient Japanese capital Kyoto. Construction and architecture firm Takenaka Corporation have been appointed to design the 70-room property, which will be surrounded by several UNESCO World Heritage sites in Higashiyama ward, including Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Tony Chi and Associates will create the interior design. Park Hyatt Kyoto will be built as a low-rise structure

Architecture practice Perkins + Will is leading development for Detroit’s recently announced US$50m (€45.6m, £40.6m) Motown Museum – a 50,000sq ft (4,650sq m) tourist destination dedicated to the music genre. The museum announced on Monday (17 October) a capital campaign to add 40,000sq ft (3,700sq m) to the existing 10,000sq ft (929sq m) space. Planned improvements include new interactive exhibits, a theatre, recording studios and an enlarged museum store. When

A photographer to the stars has launched a Kickstarter campaign to open a design-led hotel chain he believes can change the world. Jeremy Cowart – who has photographed celebrities including Taylor Swift, the Kardashians, Britney Spears and Sting – wants to raise US$347,000 to begin the design process for his first ‘Purpose Hotel’ in Nashville, Tennessee. Cowart’s idea is to create a global hotel chain whose profits sponsor children in

Musician and restaurateur Moby – whose vegan restaurant Little Pine is approaching its first anniversary – has told CLAD that too many architects and designers ignore the needs of the people who will use their buildings. In an exclusive interview about Little Pine and his design philosophy, Moby criticised designers “who think about stuff that can be photographed well, but who never actually plan on spending time in the spaces

Hotel brand Wyndham Garden has launched a new global design prototype that it believes can help hospitality operators save money, improve efficiency and forge a closer connection to nature. Nine prototypical hotels, designed for business travellers, are already under development in Texas, Indiana and West Virginia. The design – developed with hospitality design firm Krause+Sawyer – is inspired by gardens, using natural materials, abundant daylight and flora and fauna to

Two architecture studios hope to show how remote heritage sites can be served by ‘satellite’ visitor centres through their own design for a tourist hub which celebrates an uninhabited Scottish archipelago from a location on a nearby island. Scottish studio Dualchas Architects and Norway’s Reiulf Ramstad Architects, who are working in the UK for the first time, have unveiled their masterplan for the St Kilda Visitor Centre. They propose the

Work is nearing completion on a new Four Seasons hotel sat in an 800 year old garden in Japan’s ancient imperial capital Kyoto. The Four Seasons Kyoto, which will open on 15 October 2016, has been designed by architecture studio Kume Sekkei and interior design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates to reflect a “contemporary evolution of traditional Japanese style”. Inspired by traditional design elements and motifs, the guest rooms will feature

The international architecture competition to design a Museum of 20th Century Art in Berlin is entering its final stages, with 42 firms asked to submit their proposals before a decision is made by the end of the year. Sou Fujimoto, Zaha Hadid Architects, David Chipperfield, Herzog & de Meuron, REX Architecture, OMA, Snøhetta, SANAA and UNStudio are among those to have qualified from previous rounds, or who have been invited

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has designed an immersive installation called Forest of Light for Milan Design Week. A darkened space is illuminated by towering cones of light that respond to visitors’ movements. Fog and specially-composed sounds add an atmospheric effect, and mirrored walls have been installed to create the illusion of an infinite landscape, where the conical spotlights form countless abstract trees. “People meander through this forest, as if lured

A major international architecture competition for the urban regeneration of Paris has concluded, with 22 design teams selected to develop their innovative visions for the future of the French capital. The project, called reinventer.paris, launched in November 2014 with an invitation for architects, designers, investors, companies, collectives and artists to “prefigure what the Paris of tomorrow might be” for “an urban experiment on an unparalleled scale.” Over 800 proposals were