An immersive audiovisual experience that "observes everything as it is" was a among the highlights of this year's Noor Riyadh festival in Saudi Arabia. Created by design studio Nohlabs, the installation – called Everything – is true to its name and questions everything in existence by suggesting new possibilities for them. Offering visitors the opportunity to observe the elements that construct their everyday lives, the experience ascribes new meanings to

The recently opened, Klai Juba Wald -designed Guitar Hotel at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has a new string to itself following the launch of a new J-Lo-themed music and light show on its LED façade. The Hollywood hotel opened in October 2019 as part of a $1.5b (€1.4b, £1.2b) expansion of the Seminole resort and is claimed – probably not unreasonable – to be the world’s first

A bookstore in Wuhan, China, has reopened after a two-year design and renovation project by Wutopia Lab that has seen a huge "light cone" inserted into the building, drawing natural light from the roof down to all floors. The 10,000sq m (107,600sq ft) Hubei Foreign Language Bookstore was established 40 years ago and has undergone a number of alterations and renovations over the years. Wutopia Lab were keen to re-establish

Lighting consultants Nulty have worked with brands including Harrods, Ritz-Carlton and the Royal Albert Hall, but as director Emilio Hernandez told CLAD, their most significant project might simply be helping people to get a good night's sleep. Founded in 2011, the firm has grown to have offices in London, Dubai, Beirut, Miami and Bangkok and it has worked across a variety of sectors, with projects having included restaurants, gyms, homes,

The historic Belgian city of Bruges has been illuminated with a 2km (1.2mi) walk-through lighting and visual experience for the festive "Wintergloed" (Winter Glow) season, using atmospheric light installations from Painting with Light (PWL). The company was commissioned by Bruges Plus, the organisation responsible for the city's cultural events, and has designed a series of ephemeral lighting and projection-mapped installations in six different areas, each inspired, according to PWL, by

Plans for a £175m (US$228.7m, €205.7m) indoor tropical waterpark and spa in Manchester, UK, will have to wait until March for approval, with the local council set to consider the proposal in March 2020. Therme Group and developer Peel L&P initially submitted plans in July 2019 for public consultation, with a planning application to Trafford Council following last month. The plans foresee a 28-acre resort that includes a 700,000sq ft

Petr Pelčák has designed a new Hard Rock Hotel in Prague that will feature a three-storey feature wall with a 5,900sq ft (550sq m) soundwave of moving light, as well as a spa and a rooftop bar. The building itself is owned by EP Real Estate and has been in development since 2015. It will house 523 rooms, all with in-room music-themed yoga programmes and complimentary use of Fender guitars,

Alberto Apostoli is designing a new four-level spa for the Formentin Hotel that is inspired by the Aurora Borealis and the icebergs of the Northern seas. A historic thermal hotel built in 1911, the Formentin Hotel is located in the centre of Abano Terme, an ancient thermal area located between Verona and Venice. The 840sq m (9,042sq ft) spa will include a swimming pool on the ground floor, a thermal

Lighting design studio Cactus has partnered with cardio climbing gym operator Rise Nation to create two new studios that use programmable lighting embedded in the ceiling to help motivate individuals as they workout. Located in the Cherry Creek and Highlands suburbs of Denver, US, the gyms are fitted with modular LED units that can be combined together as large digital canvases to create immersive, multicolour lighting experiences. In this way,

A spectacular light and sound event has launched in Townsville, north-eastern Queensland in Australia. Halo, which is created by Sydney-based AGB Events, will run in the evenings until 4 August, and is being staged in conjunction with the inaugural North Australian Festival of Arts. The event will see Castle Hill, which looms above the city, lit up with a dramatic light and sound show for five minutes, every 20 minutes.

Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has created a shingle-covered Serpentine Pavilion that draws on the ancient building cultures of Cumbria, UK. Situated on the grounds of The Serpentine Gallery in London's Kensington Gardens, the artwork features a 61-tonne slate canopy and is supported by a series of white poles. “This is an attempt to supplement traditional architecture with modern methodologies and concepts, to create in this place an expanse of scenery

A team of researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park, have invented a special type of engineered wood that might be able to reduce carbon emissions and reduce cooling costs by 60 per cent. In order to create the material, the scientists soaked basswood in a solution of hydrogen peroxide to strip away its lignin (glue-like polymers that absorb heat and harden plant cells). The wood was then placed

Architecture firms Snøhetta and Blight Rayner have won an international competition to design an AU$150m (US$103.8m, €90m, £81.4m) theatre for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in Brisbane, Australia. Set to open in 2022, the pivotal facility, which will turn QPAC into the largest performing arts centre in Australia, will feature two studios, foyer spaces, and an expansive glass façade. "The building will glow by night and sparkle by day

Sir David Adjaye's first residential skyscraper in the US – 130 William – has topped out in New York's Financial District. Developed by the Lightstone Group, the 66-storey building will boast a plethora of wellness facilities, including a gym with an adjoining a yoga room and workout terrace, and a spa with three pools, a sauna, and a massage room. The 224-apartment property will also have a basketball court, a

Following five years of delays and challenges from local councils, the city of Paris has approved plans for the "Triangle Tower" – a translucent high-rise that bears some resemblance to the Louvre Pyramid. First unveiled by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in 2008, the 41-storey mixed-use building, which is being developed by real estate firm Unibail Rodamco, will be situated near the Porte de Versailles in the 15th

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

A new home for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) – worth an estimated US$650m (€574.6m, £497.3m) – has cleared a major hurdle having had its plans approved. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, a former Pritzker Prize winner, the new building’s plans were approved at a county vote, which also cleared US$117.5m (€103.9m, £89.9m) in taxpayer funding for it. The museum’s design has received criticism for its

The Eero Saarinen-designed Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight Center – arguably the most iconic example of Space Age neo-futuristic architecture – is set to reopen its doors at JFK Airport on 15 May. The air terminal, which – according to Saarinen – was designed to express "man's desire to conquer gravity" as well as the "drama and excitement of travel", will now be a leisure epicentre, featuring eight bars, six

British real estate company SUSD has announced that it has gained planning consent to develop the Grotto Estate – a 3.5-hectare country retreat on the banks of the Thames river in Lower Basildon, UK. Designed by Paul Forster, the future property, which will expand on a Georgian-era mansion said to have been designed by the renowned landscape architect Capability Brown, will feature 53 rooms and six two-bedroom detached lodges, two

Gateshead Council is moving forward with plans to expand the iconic Gateshead Quays, a leisure and entertainment-focused development in Tyne and Wear, UK. The £200m (US$255m, €225m) expansion, which is being spearheaded by Ask Real Estate and PATRIZIA UK, will see the riverside locale gain a number of hotels, bars, and restaurants, as well as a 12,500-seat arena and 10,000 sq m conference centre. Set to be designed by HOK

A dramatic mountain-top arts centre has been built in the Yanshan mountains in China. The Hilltop Gallery – also known as the Phoenix Valley Summit Art Centre – was designed by the Chinese architecture studio, deep Architects (DA). The undulating structure follows the topography of the mountainside and has been built in concrete, bamboo, and terracotta. The 2,600 sq m building has a ballroom, theatre, open cooking area, lounge and

A new hotel with a striking minimalist design aesthetic and a light-filled, tranquil spa will open this November on the Caribbean island of Grenada. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, Silversands Grenada will be located on the Grand Anse Beach and include 43 suites and nine residential villas. With architecture and interiors by AW² – Reda Amalou and Stéphanie Ledoux – Silversands Grenada features linear architecture and

The Preidlhof Hotel and Spa in South Tyrol, Italy, has unveiled a Dream Well Suite, which has won this year’s Innovation Award at the European Health and Spa Awards. Guests staying in the Dream Well Suite at Preidlhof can awaken to a slow-starting bird concert and sunbeams finding their way through treetops, or fall asleep to a sunset at a small mountain lake. Daniel Lathan at Sonami AG – who

Japanese studio Moriyuki Ochiai Architects have designed a cluster of vibrant, polygonal tea houses that double as a new “sanctuary for stargazing” for budding astronomers. Surrounded by rolling hills in the town of Bisei, Okayama Prefecture, the ‘Constellation of Stargazing Tea Rooms’ has been conceived for visitors who wish to participate in traditional tea ceremonies, watch concerts and plays, and, at night, sit back and look up at the stars.

Architects MnM Studio, Maria Brightei and Marcello D'Orsi were named as joint winners of the Celia Thomas Prize at this year's Bespoke Access Awards. Now in its second year, the Bespoke Access Awards is an international design competition run in association with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The Celia Thomas Prize, named for Baroness Celia Thomas, is designed to champion accessible hospitality design to make the hotel experience

Salone del Mobile, one of the world’s leading international design and furnishing events, has kicked off in Milan, with more than 300,000 visitors from over 165 countries expected to visit before the show closes on 22 April. More than 2,000 exhibitors from the worlds of furniture, lighting technology and bathroom and kitchen design are presenting their products and innovations to potential buyers across more than 200,000sq m. Several brands are also celebrating their new collections

British architects HawkinsBrown have won planning and listed building consent for their regeneration of a complex of Victorian-era mill buildings in Yorkshire to form an arts-led leisure district. Their 130,000sq ft (12,000sq m) masterplan for the Rutland Mills project will deliver studio space for artists, designers and musicians; restaurants; event and gallery space, a retail zone; a hotel; and several areas of public realm. The mixed-use district will be sited