Developers behind the £8bn Battersea Power Station mixed-use renovation project will demolish the the Grade II listed building’s iconic chimneys, with work due to start this summer, but say all four towers will be fully restored by 2016. The crumbling chimneys would likely pose a danger to the under development leisure and retail project – which includes designs from architects Norman Foster and Frank Gehry – with a combination of

The Natural History Museum (NHM) has announced Niall McLaughlin Architects, in collaboration with Kim Wilkie, as the winners of their Civic Realm competition to redesign the grounds of the London attraction. Niall McLaughlin was chosen from a shortlist of five architectural practices also including Stanton Williams Architects, Grant Associates, Land Use Consultants and BIG. The Civic Realm competition was launched to help address visitor engagement, care of the collection and

Plans have been unveiled to build a 125,000sq m (410,105sq ft) desert oasis in the shape of the Al Fayah Park in the city of Abu Dhabi. Scheduled to open to the public in 2017 – with work starting as soon as the design stage is finished by architects Heatherwick Studios in late 2014 – the park will offer a variety of open spaces with exercise paths and picnic areas.

Work has been completed on the US$425m (€307m, £254m) Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) in South Korea. ZHA won an international design competition for the project back in 2007 and the scheme has finally come to fruition, having opened in time to host Seoul Fashion Week at the end of March. The 86,574sq m (931,874sq ft) DDP comprises a design museum, educational facilities, a sky lounge

A heritage row has erupted over plans to build a permanent home and museum for the Nobel prize – the first in the award’s 114-year history. The new headquarters threaten two historic buildings with demolition and a group of more than 5,000 has formed in protest of the plans. Under the proposals, a 25,000sq m (269,000sq ft) facility will open in 2018. The new centre will house nearly all Nobel’s

Work to create Sydney’s version of New York’s High Line has begun, with plans to transform a disused rail track, originally used for transporting freight, into a reinvigorated public space for leisure. The High Line is a public park built on the former rail line that ran above the streets of New York and is the inspiration for the Australian Sydney project. The Goods Line in Sydney stretches for 500m

The Herzog and de Meuron-designed Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) launched recently in Miami’s new Museum Park, featuring 200,000sq ft (18,581sq m) of exhibition space. As well as permanent and temporary galleries, PAMM features a shop, café, auditorium, education centre and offices. It also features vertical gardens by French botanist Patrick Blanc. The building sits on an elevated platform and below a canopy; tropical plants and vegetation will be planted

The Hongkun Fine Art Gallery has reopened in Beijing following a refurbishment by Vienna and Beijing-based architectural firm Penda, featuring a fluid, curved design. The all-white gallery encompasses 2,000sq m (21,528sq ft) of exhibition space across two floors. The refurbishment involved the addition of a new reception area and gently curved archways of different sizes, that open out onto the existing exhibition space. The continuous arch was selected as a

The Catalina Island Museum is moving to the Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building – four times the size of their rented Avalon Casino accommodation – on Santa Catalina Island, California. Scheduled to open in 2015, the private, non-profit museum bought the land for US$1.9m (€1.3m, £1.1m) with funds from private donations. The new 11,000sq ft (1,021sq m) building will cost US$6m (€4.3m, £3.5m). Founded in 1953, the museum has always

Eco sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor is looking to use underwater sculpturing to help boost coral reef environments, while also bringing a new form of experience to the attractions industry. Developing underwater museums, through the use of sculptures installed on coral reef beds, Taylor is helping to transform languishing environments, as well as relieving strain by opening up new options for tourists among heavily populated hot-spots. Taylor has so far opened

Cambridge University’s Museum of Zoology is to undergo a complete redevelopment after receiving a grant of £1.8m ($3m €2.2m) from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The funding will support £4.8m ($7.9m €5.8m) plans to redevelop the Museum of Zoology with new displays showcasing the animal kingdom, as well as new stores to preserve its outstanding collections for future display and expand the museum’s learning programmes, reaching out to wider audiences

A new museum memorial centre acting as a leading light for leisure restoration projects could be in line to receive two design awards. The National Mining Memorial Centre at the National Mining Museum Scotland has been nominated for a Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) award, as well as an Edinburgh Architectural Association (EAA) award in the Small Projects category. Located at the Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, the centre

One of the world's largest indoor illumination experiences, Illuminasia, will open in Olympia Arena at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, UK on 18 April. The £3m investment means the 45,000sq ft (4,180sq m) space inside Olympia Arena will be made into six family-friendly zones, illuminated by 35,000 lights using Chinese lantern crafts and LED bulbs. Investors - Shanghai's Yi Sai Culture Communication, International Special Attractions Ltd and Global Entertainment Productions

Work on the first floor of France’s iconic Eiffel Tower is almost finished, with new upgrades offering visitors a glass floor to walk over, shops, restaurants, plus an events and conference space 57m (187ft) above Paris. The first floor is the most spacious but also least visited storey of the Parisian structure, but the development by French studio Moatti-Riviére Architects – the first refurbishment on the tower in more than

Chilean architect Smiljan Radic has been chosen to design this year’s Serpentine Galleries Pavilion with an unusual proposal inspired by an Oscar Wilde short story. The architect’s vision stems from a structure featured in Oscar Wilde’s short story, the Castle of the Selfish Giant, which was originally published in 1888. Radic has proposed designs that will see a fibreglass pavilion, spaced over 350sq m and sculpted to look like a

A museum dedicated to the events of 11 September 2001 will open in New York City this May. At each stage of the design process, which incorporated objects from the World Trade Center, the museum had to consider what was appropriate to display and find a balance between commemoration and education. New York-based Davis Brody Bond is the lead architectural firm on the project and worked in conjunction with Oslo-outfit

Paris’ 16 “ghost stations” which have been disused for decades could have new life breathed into them as leisure spaces, if ideas put forward by a politician come to fruition. As part of her election campaign, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, of the UMP Party, has commissioned Oxo Architects and Laisné Architects to come up with designs for alternative uses for these redundant spaces. The designs show how Arsenal station – a disused

A dome made by a robotic arm and live silkworms, a folding bike helmet and a floating pyramid-shaped school in a Nigerian lagoon are among the pioneering concepts nominated for Designs of the Year 2014 by London’s Design Museum. A total of 76 nominations have been put forward and will feature in an exhibition at the Design Museum from 26 March to 25 August 2013. Afterwards, the winners from each

Florence is to welcome the opening of a new 20th Century Art Museum this April, as the city undergoes a cultural transformation which will see a host of other attractions open or receive restoration work. The city’s new Museo del Novecento, located in the former Leopoldine convent in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, will feature 800sq m (6,611 sq ft) of exhibition space, as well as 10 meeting rooms. To be

The deputy director of Florida’s Norton Museum of Art believes hiring world-renowned architects Foster and Partners for its new transformation has sent a "clear message" of the institution’s "serious ambition" to become a major international art venue. James Brayton Hall described Lord Norman Foster as one of the "top three architects in the world" and said it was his work on the British Museum and Boston Museum of Fine Arts

The Tate Britain’s newly completed £45m renovation is a "triumph of funding" and could usher in a new age of philanthropy, according to Lord Browne, chair of Tate. A total of 95 per cent of the work was funded by private donors, with the majority of support coming from trusts, foundations, individual donors and Tate members – as opposed to big businesses. The Tate’s latest set of renovations sees the

Plans to build an innovative cultural museum designed by Foster + Partners in Abu Dhabi have moved a step closer following the proposal of 10 pre-qualified bids for the site's development. The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) plans to build the Sheikh Zayed National Museum in the Cultural District area of Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. The final deadline for submissions passed on 26 November, though it is not

The Queens Museum, New York, has officially reopened following US$69m (£43m, €51m) worth of renovations, which have seen the doubling of museum space, the addition of new gallery and exhibition areas, as well a new artistic facade and an additional educational component being installed. Grimshaw Architects – with Ammann and Whitney – renovated the 105,000 sq ft (9,754sq m) museum in order to integrate the attraction with its location in

The Royal Academy of Arts has moved a step closer to beginning its £36m (US$57.5m, €42.9m) Burlington Gardens redevelopment project, with designs created by David Chipperfield Architects, having been granted £12.7m (US$20.3m, €15.1m) by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The development will see the linking of 6 Burlington Gardens and the nearby Burlington House, to create a centre capable of housing contemporary art shows, a debating chamber and space to display

A two million sq ft (185,806sq m) museum complex is to be built in the Chinese port city of Qingdao, with the cultural centre featuring museums, galleries, art islands and public spaces. The Qingdao Culture and Art Centre, designed by Steven Holl Architects, will house four museums connected by a specially designed light loop that mimics the characteristics of China’s Jiaozhou Bay Bridge - the world’s largest bridge over water.

Plans to regenerate Preston city centre have been unveiled, with the aim of breathing new life into the faltering city centre. Preston council’s major plans include creating an office quarter, building a new cinema, increasing the number of homes in the city centre and revitalising the city’s leisure and culture offering. Plans are already afoot to make major improvements to the city’s transport system as part of the City Deal,

The Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China, designed by innovative firm Steven Holl Architects, has opened its doors to the public, with the centre exploring the viewpoints, structures and materials that influence Chinese painting. The museum is based at the opening of an architectural site in the Laoshan National Forest Park, which houses projects from the Chinese International Practical Exhibition of Architecture (CIPEA) programme. Alongside the museum, the park will feature