The Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France, has announced plans for a major expansion project following an anonymous €20m (£17.6m, US$22.4m) donation. The project, called Orsay Grand Ouvert – or Orsay Wide Open – is thought to have been in development for a period of several months and has now been made public following the donation. A new wing and a 7,000sq ft (650sq m) Education Center, as well as an

Seine Design have created a €5.4m (US$6m, £4.6m) floating guinguette – a small restaurant and dance hall – with glass-panelled sides and a glass roof that give visitors views of its River Seine location. Rosa 2, which is a venue for the Rosa Bonheur chain, replaced an existing floating guinguette that was moored close to the prestigious Pont Alexandre III bridge. From onboard, visitors can see the Eiffel Tower, the

Construction work has begun on the Athletes Village for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The 51-hectare site in the Seinte-Saint-Denis district in north Paris will accommodate up to 17,000 athletes and team officials during the Games. The Village will be built close to the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre – two venues in which an estimated 30 per cent of the total number of athletes will compete.

A new carbon neutral and nature-based neighbourhood designed by SLA and Biecher Architectes is to be built on the site of a former rail depot in Paris, France. The so-called “ecosystem neighbourhood” is designed to ensure that its constituent parts interact and work to benefit each other. For example, renewable energy generation will power amenities that will link up green spaces. The Ordener-Poissonniers development will cover 36,500sq m (392,900sq ft)

The city of Paris has selected London-based landscape design practice Gustafson Porter + Bowman (GP+B) to lead a €72m (US$80.3m, £63.5m) expansion of the public realm around the Eiffel Tower. Expected to dramatically enhance and diversify the visitor experience at the iconic building, the project will see a variety of new spaces created, including a green amphitheatre at the Place du Trocadéro and two plazas – one on each side

French design practice Marc Mimram have completed a new tennis court for the Stade Roland Garros in Paris. The 5,000-seat Court Simonne-Mathieu is flanked by four greenhouses to camouflage its bulk and ensure it blends in to the site, which is within the 120-year-old Serres d'Auteuil botanical gardens, adjacent to the main Roland Garros complex. The facility is named after the eponymous female tennis champion. The opening of the controversial

Ieoh Ming Pei, the architect who conceived the Louvre Pyramid, has died. Born in Guangzhou, China in 1917, Pei emigrated to the US in 1940, establishing his own practice, I.M. Pei and Associates in 1955. The firm soon went on to design a number of celebrated projects, the most famous of which was arguably the now iconic Louvre Pyramid, which was commissioned by French president François Mitterrand in 1989. At

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

Following the tragic destruction of Notre Dame's 19th-century spire, the French prime minister, Édouard Philippe, has invited architects to put forward ideas for its restoration. "The international competition will allow us to ask the question of whether we should even recreate the spire as it was conceived by Viollet-le-Duc," Philippe said of the project. "This is obviously a huge challenge, a historic responsibility," he added. Viollet-le-Duc, who counted Victor Hugo's

Work on the eye-catching Réalimenter Masséna (Recharge Masséna) project, the spiralling design of which has been likened to both mythological and real-life structures, such as the towers of Babel and Pisa, is now slated to begin in 2020. The mid-rise, which is expected to implement practices derived from the circular economy model, will serve as a culinary hub, community attraction, and urban farm. Set to rise near the grounds of

French property developer and construction firm GA Smart Building has been selected to build the Universal City, a 30,000 sq m mixed-use complex dedicated to disability athletics and wellness. The nine-storey facility – first conceived by social activist and sportsman Ryadh Sallem for the citywide urban regeneration scheme "Reinventer Paris" (Reinventing Paris) – will rise on a vacant lot adjacent to the Porte de Pantin station in the 19th arrondissement

Construction has begun on "Villa M" – an integrated hotel that will explore the many dimensions of healthy living and communal wellness. The brainchild of French designer Philippe Starck and Triptyque Architecture, Villa M, which stands for – among other things – "medicine, mutualism, and mobility" – will comprise a hotel, gym, restaurant, and bar, as well as exhibition, residential, and working spaces. Another major amenity of the property will

Scandinavian architecture practice Henning Larsen have been tapped to expand the Opéra Bastille – the largest opera house in Paris. The renovated structure will feature an extended foyer, an 800-seat concert hall, workshop facilities, and a public garden path with links to the Viaduc des Arts and the rue de Lyons. First proposed in 2017 in response to a competition announced by France's Ministry of Culture and Communication, the new

The Hôtel de Berri, a former townhouse newly outfitted by French art director and interior designer Philippe Renaud, has opened in Paris. The upscale hotel – once the abode of the creme de la creme of the city's Belle Epoque and Beaux Arts-periods – is located a stone’s throw from the Champs Elysées and features 75 rooms and 35 suites. Other amenities include the Le Schiap restaurant, the Le Bizaz

A team led by French architecture firm Triptyque has designed Ecotone, a mixed-use development projected to become one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The €300m ($340m, £261.5m) project, which will feature biophilic and biomimetic elements – such as terraced hillsides inspired by bird and bee nests – will span 81,870 sq m and comprise a hotel and multipurpose sports hall, as well as fitness centres, restaurants, retail

Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the architect behind the renovation of L’Hôtel Lutetia, Paris has said that in redesigning the famous Left Bank hotel it was “imperative to preserve and enhance its identity”. The hotel was originally built in 1910 by Le Bon Marché creators the Boucicaut family to accompany that department store. It closed in April 2014 to begin its renovation process after Wilmotte had won the competition to redesign it. The

The star attraction at Disney and Center Parcs’ new Villages Nature development outside Paris has been completed. The practice of French architect Jacques Ferrier have completed the 9,000sqm (96,875sq ft) AquaLagoon, which houses one of the largest indoor waterparks in Europe. The tiered pyramid structure contains wave pools, water slides and an active river alongside an open-air geothermal lagoon. Other attractions include an interactive farm, hanging gardens and adventure play

The iconic Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris will officially unveil its new Le Spa this July, after an extensive renovation that includes a new 17m (55ft) swimming pool, vitality pool with hydromassage water experience circuit, a 90sq m (970sq ft) fitness room, and new results-driven treatments. The new Le Spa is spread over 720sq m s (7,750sq ft), and has been designed by Parisian interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, who

French rugby legend Sébastien Chabal and French designer Philippe Starck have joined forces to create a range of urban sports equipment which promotes free and accessible sport to everyone. The initiative is part of the Heritage Plan 2024 – one of the legacy projects linked to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Called Station Sport Lib', the equipment aims to "make people embrace movement and encourage them to do sports freely

MVRDV founders Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries have announced the opening of a new office in Spaces Réaumur, Paris, reflecting the firm’s long line of forthcoming projects in France. This year, construction has already begun on the reconstruction of the Part-Dieu shopping centre in Lyon and the extensive renovation of the Gaite-Montparnasse shopping centre in Paris, with a porous façade connecting the mall to the street,

French architecture studio SCAU have won the design competition to create an Olympic stadium and leisure park in the suburbs of Paris, with their vision for a venue extensively covered by plants. The practice will develop and expand the existing Hunebelle Stadium into a 24,000sq m (258,300sq ft) mixed-use ground with a connected bowling alley, gymnasium, athletics hall and parking that flow organically into one another, partially underground. Situated on

Four design teams have been shortlisted for a project to reimagine the Eiffel Tower's visitor experience. Groups led by AL_A, Gustafson, Porter + Bowman, Agence Ter and Koz Architectes are in the running for the large-scale project, which covers a 540,000sq m area either side of the River Seine. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has voiced the city’s ambition to make every visit to the landmark more enjoyable and accessible by

The hospitality arm of luxury goods giant Bvlgari has announced plans to open a hotel in Paris in 2020, bringing its international collection to eight properties. Italian design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Parisian architects Valode & Pistre are converting a historic building on Avenue George V – adjacent to the Champs Elysees in the famous and fashionable Triangle d’Or area of the French capital – into the 66-room

The developers of EuropaCity in Paris have provided a first glimpse at the eight key leisure buildings that will be constructed for the €3.1bn (US$3.8bn, £2.7bn) project. Following a competitive six-month competition process, several established and emerging architecture practices from France and further afield have been selected to work on the accommodation and attractions that will form the cultural heart of the vast scheme – which has been masterplanned by

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

The French government has unveiled an ambitious plan to renovate Paris’s landmark Grand Palais and create a cultural boulevard linking the historic site with the Champs Elysees and the River Seine. First built for the Exposition Universelle world fair in 1900, the giant glass vault of the Palais had a strong impact on the country’s Art Nouveau movement and has become one of the French capital’s best-known icons, as well

The Rolling Stones have officially opened one of the largest indoor stadiums in Europe, Paris’s U Arena. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and co ended their latest world tour with three sold-out shows at the stadium, built in the heart of the French capital’s La Défense district, close to the landmark Grande Arche. Designed by Pritzker-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc, the arena forms a distinctive horseshoe shape – the ‘U’ of