Seeing Spheres, a new and permanent artwork by Olafur Eliasson featuring five reflective silver orbs has been opened on San Francisco's waterfront. The Mission Bay installation by the Danish-Icelandic artist is situated at a plaza next to the city's new Chase Center sports complex, where the Golden State Warriors basketball team will play. Each sphere is a 5m (16.4ft) high orb made of polished, hydroformed steel, each supporting a flat,

Austrian artist Klaus Littmann has transformed the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, Austria, into a forest as part of an art installation looking to change people's perception of nature. The 32,000-capacity stadium, home of SK Austria Klagenfurt football club, has been fitted with a mini-forest of 300 trees what is set to become Austria’s largest public art installation. Overseen by Enea Landscape Architecture, the “For Forest: the unending attraction of nature"

Lendlease has reportedly withdrawn its bid to build the long-planned Sydney Modern expansion at the Art Gallery of NSW in Australia. The AUS$344m (US$233m, €210m, £193m) project was first announced six years ago and has been funded mostly by the New South Wales (NSW) Government, with AUS$100m (US$68m, €61m, £56m) coming from private philanthropy. When announced in 2013 the project cost was estimated at AU$400m. This was revised up to

The first installation of the Museum of Underwater Art – a series of inter-tidal and fully submerged galleries planned for the Great Barrier Reef region of Queensland, Australia – is due to open in December on the coast at Townsville. Ocean Siren will be a solar-powered sculpture of a young girl, which uses live temperature data supplied by the Australian Institute of Marine Science to give a visual representation of

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.

The Czech city of Ostrava is to have a new concert hall designed by Steven Holl Architects and Prague-based Architecture Acts following an international competition. The structure will create a tension between new and old, with the new building sitting astride the city's existing House of Culture. The 1,300-seat concert hall, which is expected to open in 2023, was designed as a "perfect acoustic instrument in its case" in collaboration

MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, have been chosen to build their ethereal design for the Yiwu Grand Theater in China’s Zhejiang province. The announcement comes following a competition with Arata Isozaki & Associates, Atelier Christian de Portzamparc, GMP, and KDG. The new building, located on the south bank of the Dongyang River, will have a 1,600-seat grand theatre, a 1,200-seat theatre and an international, 2,000-capacity conference centre. Positioned with

Integrated design practice Snøhetta have teamed up with AECOM and WCIT Architecture to redesign the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The new masterplan will see the 22-acre cultural venue expanded to include a concert hall, exhibition centre, and sports pavilion. The complex will also feature a number of outdoor spaces – such as ponds, gardens, and rivulets – all of which will follow what the design team have

The Andermatt Concert Hall (ACH) – a 650-capacity arts venue said to be the ‘first major purpose-built concert hall in any Alpine ski village’ has officially opened its doors. Designed by Studio Seilern Architects and constructed by BESIX Group, the new facility is situated in Andermatt, Switzerland, and can accomodate orchestras of up to 75 people. Kahle Acoustics were responsible for sound engineering, while dUCKS scéno served as the theatre

The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)-designed Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (MÉCA) in the French city Bordeaux opened to the public on 28 June. Located on the city's historic riverfront, the 12,000sq m cultural centre will become the new home for three cultural institutions – visual arts organisation FRAC, performing arts centre OARA and literature organisation ECLA. BIG's design for the institution divides the center in

Pace Gallery’s new Manhattan headquarters is set to open its doors on 14 September. Designed by New York-based architecture firm Bonetti/Kozerski (B/K), and situated on 540 West 25th Street in Chelsea, the 75,000 sq ft (6,967 sq m) flagship will boast a volcanic stone façade and feature five new indoor and outdoor galleries, a library, and a performance hall. Once open, the space, which is being developed by Weinberg Properties,

The Twist – a museum designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) – is set to make its debut on 18 September in Hønefoss, Norway. Situated in the Kistefos Museum's 270,000 sq m sculpture park, the new structure – which has been described as an “art museum, sculpture, path in the landscape, and bridge" – spans the Randselva river. The Twist will house three galleries dedicated to contemporary art The site used

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

The Neri & Hu-designed Aranya Art Center (AAC) has finally opened to the public in Qinhuangdao, China. Situated opposite the Bohai Sea in an affluent resort community known as the "Gold Coast", the cultural hub comprises a café, an amphitheatre, a rooftop viewing area, and multiple galleries. The building, which is composed almost entirely of concrete, also features a neo-Brutalist, pixellated façade. According to Neri & Hu, the appearance of

Design practice SO-IL and landscape architects West 8 have won a competition to redesign ArtPark – a 37-acre cultural hub and events venue located on the Niagara Gorge in Lewiston, New York. The aim is for ArtPark to become an internationally recognized, financially sustainable destination and a location for the intersection of art, performance, and community. The overhaul will see the 1970s-era attraction gain a renovated main stage, an outdoor

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

The long-awaited International Spy Museum (SPY) – has officially opened to the public in Washington, D.C. Designed by Rogers Stirk + Partners and Hickok Cole Architects, the revamped 11,400 sq m facility features the world's largest collection of espionage artefacts. The firms' US$162m (€144.7m, £126.5m) intervention saw the museum gain a rooftop terrace, retail and lobby areas, and three floors of exhibits. The attraction also boasts a new set of

The city of Lyon has selected French design firm Perrot & Richard Architectes to renovate the Salle Rameau, a 100-year-old concert hall in Lyon that once hosted performances by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Ray Ventura. French real estate firm Companie de Phalsbourg will lead the €14.3m (US$16m, £12.3m) overhaul, which will see the Art Nouveau building's dilapidated facilities converted into an 840-capacity theatre, a rooftop bar, a restaurant,

London-based architects Sergison Bates have won an international contest to design a new performing arts centre in the medieval quarter of Leuven, Belgium. The €60m (US$67.1m, £51.6m) project will see the Sint-Pieters Hospital, which dates to the 11th century, transformed into a 10,000 sq m multi-use structure with concert halls, rehearsal rooms, and lounge areas. "This will be more like a cultural platform than a conventional arts venue," explained the

American culinary arts non-profit The James Beard Foundation (JBF) has announced the winners of its 2019 Restaurant Design Awards. Atomix, a Korean eatery designed by New-York based firm Studio Writers, won the category for "75 Seats and Under", while the "75 Seats and Over" award went to Pacific Standard Time – a Chicago restaurant conceived by Parts and Labor Design. Completed in 2018, Atomix features neutral-toned interiors and an intimate

Berlin-based art and design team Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann, co-founders of Studio Other Spaces (SOS), have been commissioned to transform a 1960s-era courtyard into a canopied community hall at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. The new atrium – dubbed Common sky – is expected to further augment the institution's US$160m (€142.6m, £122.8m) expansion, which is being led by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and which

Some of the 1,600 objects previously exhibited in the Triennale di Milano have found a permanent home in Milan's newly-opened Italian Design Museum. The museum, which was made possible by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, opened on 9 April to coincide with Milano Design Week 2019. Sitting under the artistic direction of Joseph Grima, the museum is aiming to become "the leading international centre dedicated to Italian

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 Shed – the long-awaited movable events space and one of the crowning structures of the Hudson Yards development – has finally opened to the public. The multi-use arts venue, which was co-designed by Rockwell Group and Diller Scofidio+Renfro (DS+R) kicked off its events programme with The Soundtrack of America, a five-night concert celebrating African-American music. The production was conceived and developed by British filmmaker Steve McQueen in collaboration with

OPEN Architecture have transformed five decommissioned oil containers into the Tank Museum Shanghai – an art gallery and exhibition complex. The new 60,000 sq m attraction, which is situated near an airfield that was active in the 1920s and '30s, also includes a landscaped concourse and "urban forest", as well as retail shops and restaurants. "While paying tribute to the site's industrial past," the architects outlined in a statement, "the

A new interactive exhibition space, courtesy of US design studio Snarkitecture, has opened in the thriving Hudson Yards development in Manhattan, New York. Called Snark Park, the new 6,000sq ft (557sq m) space will put on three major experiences per year, starting with its first installation, Lost and Found – a grid-like ‘forest’ made up of columns of various heights that emerge from the ground which aims to encourage visitors

A new cultural centre that incorporates an art museum, science centre, a book mall, and a youth centre has finished construction in Shenzhen, China. Designed by architects Mecanoo, the Longgang Cultural Centre is located along a long, narrow strip in the city and is comprised of four angular red buildings, each housing one of its four main elements. The art museum showcases a number of public artworks on its upper