Speaking exclusively with CLAD, Caroline Bos, co-founder of architecture practice UNStudio, reveals her creative influences and explains why she sees the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini as a role model. Born in the Netherlands, Bos studied art history at Birkbeck College, University of London and urban and regional planning at the University of Utrecht. In 1988 she teamed up with Ben van Berkel to create the interdisciplinary atelier that would

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group will manage a second luxury hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. The project, which also features branded residences, is scheduled to open in 2022. UNStudio from Amsterdam has been appointed as the masterplanner and architect. The new development comprises three standalone towers and is located in the exclusive Etiler residential area, close to the city’s central business district. One of the towers will house Mandarin Oriental Etiler, Istanbul

Dutch architecture practice UNStudio have unveiled renderings for the Lyric Theatre Complex – an expansive cultural venue currently being constructed in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District. The mammoth complex, which will occupy roughly 41,000 sq m of the city’s waterfront, will include a 1,450-seat Lyric Theatre inspired by European "Baroque-era" extravagance; a 600-seat Medium Theatre for smaller-scale productions; and a 270-seat Studio Theatre for intimate performances. The arts facility

An innovative two-tower design – consisting of vertically networked platforms, terraces and verandas – has been selected winner of an AU$2bn (US$1.4bn, €1.3bn, £1.1bn) competition for a new mixed-use tower on Melbourne's Southbank in Australia. ‘Green Spine’, designed by architects UNStudio in conjunction with Cox Architects, takes the form of two curved towers that sit on top of a podium. The taller tower, standing at 356.2m, is wholly residential but houses

Steven Holl Architects (SHA) has been declared winner of the Future Campus – University College Dublin International Design Competition. In a statement, the international jury judging the competition said it was "hugely impressed" by SHA’s design proposal for a Centre for Creative Design and the accompanying masterplan for an Entrance Precinct – which in total will cover a 24ha area of the campus. The design competition's four other finalists were

Dutch architect Ben van Berkel and his design firm UNStudio have launched a tech startup to “improve the health and wellbeing of people in buildings worldwide.” UNSense will explore and develop new integrated tech solutions specifically designed for cities, buildings and indoor environments. It will be run as an independent sister company, headquartered in Amsterdam FreedomLab Campus. Explaining the concept, van Berkel said: “We are living in the age of

One of the largest ongoing leisure developments on the planet, EuropaCity in Paris, will feature a dramatic indoor/outdoor cinema embedded into the landscape, courtesy of a competition-winning design by UNStudio. The Dutch practice have been selected as the architects to realise the Centre Culturel Dédié Au 7è Art – one of eight key buildings within the wider EuropaCity masterplan created by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). Described by UNStudio as “a

Dutch designers UNStudio and German practice HPP Architects have joined forces to deliver four skyscrapers and a new urban quarter in the heart of Frankfurt. In 2015, development firm Groß & Partner acquired a 16,000sq m (172,200sq ft) plot on Junghofstraße, which had been inaccessible for nearly half a century. UNStudio won the architecture competition for the project, called FOUR Frankfurt, the following year. HPP have now been added to

Dutch design practice UNStudio has completed a vast leisure complex in Hangzhou, with a pair of sinuous towers providing a dramatic new landmark for the Chinese city. The 400,000 sq m (4.3 million sq ft) Raffles City development – nine years in the making – has been conceived as a lively vertical neighbourhood and transit hub for the Qianjiang New Town district, featuring apartments, a Conrad hotel, restaurants, shops, sports

Architecture and design firms Woods Bagot, Seventh Wave, UN Studio and Jouin Manku are designing an AUS$800m (US$612m, €538m, £472.5m) mixed-use tower complex in Melbourne. Australian development firm QICGRE is leading the 80 Collins scheme, and has pledged to create “a once-in-a-generation transformation that cements the position of Melbourne’s famed Collins Street as one of the world’s premier boulevards for luxury retail and commerce.” Scheduled for completion in 2020, the

International architecture firm UNStudio have completed a diamond-patterned destination for shopping, strolling and socialising in Shanghai. Lane 189, located in the Putuo district of the Chinese city, has been designed to “rearrange the typical mall into a vertical city centre.” It is a seven-storey leisure complex, with a combination of retail, restaurant and office spaces and public realm. UNStudio have incorporated elements of what they describe as "old Shanghai" through

Ben van Verkel and his firm UNStudio have won one of the largest urban projects in Western Europe: the redevelopment of Amsterdam’s Oosterdokseiland island. The 225,000sq m (2.4 million sq ft) scheme, located to the east of the city’s main station, will see the practice create a social hub designed to “encourage encounters” between the public and workers in the district. In total, 72,500sq m (780,300sq ft) of space will

Ten firms are in the running to design a masterplan for a man-made island off the coast of Hainan, China, which will become an eco-tourism hub for the region. Foster + Partners, UNStudio and Diller Scofidio + Renfro are among the studios competing for the project in Haikou Bay, according to ArchDaily. Called Nanhai Pearl Artificial Island, the 250 hectare crescent-shaped land is connected to the mainland by a bridge.

Ben van Berkel and his architecture practice, UNStudio, have won a design competition to create four high-rise towers in Frankfurt, Germany, for a high-profile mixed-use project designed to “invigorate the city.” The winning concept visualises a new urban quarter formed of two office towers and two residential towers sat atop a vast plinth, which will house hotels, restaurants, bars, shops and open public spaces. The complex is to be located

Some of the biggest names in architecture and design have developed prefabricated pavilions for real estate developer Robbie Antonio as part of his Revolution Project. Over 30 creative individuals – including Ron Arad, Kengo Kuma and Daniel Libeskind – were invited to create cost-efficient living and leisure spaces using advanced design and fabrication technologies. Volu, a shell-shaped dining space created by Zaha Hadid Architecture studio, was the first to be