Saudi Arabia's government has revealed plans to invest SAR50bn (US$13.3bn, €11.2bn, £9.9bn) into entertainment, health, sports and education initiatives, as the country attempts to modernise and improve its citizens' quality of life. Announced yesterday (3 May) by the Kingdom's General Entertainment Authority (GEA), it is understood that the investment will generate upward of 300,000 jobs by 2020. “Government spending on the initiatives will total around 60 per cent of the

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

Self-proclaimed “designer of whimsy” Henry Chebaane has completed the guest rooms and public areas of the new Hyatt Centric Gran Via hotel in Madrid, taking inspiration from Spanish surrealism and the history of radio. Tasked with converting the partially-listed spaces behind the historic facade of a 1920s-era building on the upscale Gran Via shopping street, Chebaane and his studio – Blue Sky Hospitality – looked to the cultural life of

The Qatar National Library (QNL) in Doha, designed by international architects OMA, has been officially opened by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani. Conceived as a space for reading, socialising and browsing, the building houses more than a million books and space for thousands of readers over an area of 42,000sq m (452,000sq ft). The marble bookshelves, organised around a central triangular space, segue with the

International design and engineering practice John Portman & Associates have triumphed in the international design competition for a hospitality and leisure complex for a major port in Shenzhen, China. Situated next to the waterfront’s cruise ship terminal, the Prince Bay development will feature a 5-star hotel tower with 350 guestrooms, encompassing a total area of 40,000sq m (430,560sq ft), and a retail and leisure podium with a landscaped roof overlooking

Stadium for Bath, the partnership behind a new community-focused elite rugby stadium in the city, has appointed planning and engineering giant Arup to play a central role in the design of the venue. Arup will provide civil, geotechnical, structural, mechanical, electrical and public health engineering as well as ICT, audiovisual, acoustic and specialist lighting design for the new 18,000 seat, digitally-enabled stadium. Arup’s team will be led from Bristol and

International architects Snøhetta have designed a new planetarium and a visitor centre for Norway’s largest astronomical facility by studying the night sky for design inspiration. Nestled in the dense forest of Harestua, 45km north of Oslo, Solobservatoriet is the largest solar observatory North of the Alps. Its original observatory was built by the University of Oslo for the total solar eclipse of 1954, and a satellite tracking station was established

Ground has broken on the US market’s latest Four Seasons hotel – a ‘civilised jungle’ in Fort Lauderdale with a third of the property dedicated to green space. The 22-storey Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Fort Lauderdale has been planned by Miami architect Kobi Karp, with 90 private residences, 130 guest rooms and “unmatched access to a lifestyle of leading amenities, services and design.” The interior architecture and design

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

International design practice AFL Architects have been commissioned by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to lead the creation of Turkey’s bid dossier for the UEFA Euro 2024. As part of this role, the studio is examining the tournament readiness of seven existing stadia in the country, as well as planning the renovation of three further venues to ensure they meet international requirements and “can provide fans with world-class hospitality.” They

Construction is nearing completion on “a world-class, signature lifestyle destination” at Singapore’s Changi Airport, which has been designed to boost the city-state’s appeal as a stopover point for global travellers. Conceived as the world’s most ambitious airport leisure attraction, the complex, called The Jewel, is being built inside an enormous glass dome covering a 40m-high indoor waterfall and a five-storey ‘forest valley’ with 2,500 trees and 100,000 shrubs. The building

Philippine property firm Revolution Precrafted, which specialises in producing modular pavilions and homes, has struck a deal to build at least 85 design-driven prefabricated holiday villas on the island Miyako in Okinawa, Japan. The company’s range of boutique luxury properties – ranging in size from 23-60sq m (247.5-645.8sq ft) – are designed by some of the world’s best-known architects and designers, including Daniel Libeskind, Christian Portzamparc, Marcel Wanders, Jean Nouvel

The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, has announced plans for a new museum of antiquities, which will be designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. The Beirut Historical Museum will be constructed in the capital’s downtown area, running from Martyrs Square to the waterfront. Funded in part by the state of Kuwait, it will house archaeological artefacts from a host of civilisations, from the Bronze Age onwards. Exhibits will include

Dalian Wanda is celebrating the official opening of its Qingdao Movie Metropolis mega-development. The US$7.9bn (£5.7bn) scheme covers more than 400 acres and includes a theme park, 30,000sq m waterpark, yacht club and hotels, as well as the vast movie studio and film production facilities. Retail, restaurants and a huge cinema complex complete the mix. At the official opening, today (Saturday 28 April), Wanda CEO Wang Jianlin said: "This is

There has been “a wonderful renaissance” in public realm design, but a lack of meaningful investment threatens to hold back further progress. That is the view of Mehrdad Yazdani, design principal of Yazdani Studio at CannonDesign, who told CLADglobal that “the design community needs to lead the way in helping cities address issues” challenging the long-term success of great public spaces. “My team has worked on a vast array of

A year after the opening of the world’s longest bicycle bridge in Xiamen, China, Danish architecture firm Dissing+Weitling have won another large-scale infrastructure project in the city. A 20km (12.4mi) network of footpaths featuring seven “spectacular” pedestrian bridges, city officials want to create a large-scale network of elevated walkways, up to 4.5m (14.7ft) wide, that will lead residents and visitors through the mountainous landscape of Xiamen, “creating outstanding experiences in

Elizabeth Diller has been named the world’s most influential architect in 2018 by Time magazine. In a citation for the publication’s list of its 100 most influential people, entrepreneur Eli Broad described the American architect as a visionary who “imagines things the rest of us have to see to believe” and “can turn a metaphor into brick and mortar.” He added: “Maybe it’s because she’s a woman in a male-dominated

The new home of Hollywood Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise Los Angeles FC has officially opened in the city’s Exposition Park. Designed by architect Gensler, the 22,000 capacity Banc of California Stadium is the first new open-air stadium in LA since 1962 and has also been LEED silver certified for its sustainable design features. Ground was broken on the US$350m (€289m, £251.5m) project in August 2016 on a site once

The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island hotel has announced the submersion of what it claims is the world's first undersea residence, which will be completed in Q4 2018. Crown Company, which owns the hotel, has invested US$15m in The Miraka (meaning ‘coral’ in Dhivehi, the local language of the Maldives). The company’s director, Ahmed Saleem, is the named architect, and the project is being constructed by New Zealand aquarium technology firm

The Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) has opened its doors to the public following a transformation of the historic cruise liner into a tourist destination and hotel by the government of Dubai. The world-famous vessel, which was decommissioned in 2008, is now docked permanently at Mina Rashid in Dubai. Reimagined as a floating 13-deck attraction, it is welcoming visitors on board for the soft opening of some of its dining, accommodation

Boutique hotelier Ian Schrager is bringing his Edition brand to Tampa, with a 173-room property set to open in then Florida city in 2021. Real estate firm Strategic Property Partners (SPP) has struck a deal with Schrager and Marriott International, which owns the brand, to launch the Tampa Edition within a 26-story tower in the heart of the Water Street Tampa neighbourhood. Designed by Morris Adjmi Architects and Nichols Brosch

International architecture practice von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) have completed a conversion of Slaski Stadium in Chorzów, Poland, adding the largest translucent polycarbonate roof in Europe to the 50s-era landmark. The original building dates from 1956, and was design by architect Julian Brzuchowski and engineer Wiktor Pade. It was converted in the 1990s and served as a venue for music events, the Speedway motorcycle World Cup and as the

English Premier League football club Crystal Palace has been given the green light to build an “iconic” new Main Stand at its Selhurst Park home, after Croydon Council resolved to grant permission for the project designed to redevelop the stadium for the modern era. Sports architects KSS are overseeing the project, with their design vision first revealed in December last year. They are working with the club to increase the

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has released the first design images for a new Seoul Cinematheque – a complex celebrating the visual arts to be built in Chungmuro, the heart of South Korea’s domestic film industry. Opening in February 2021, the venue will show non-commercial, independent, artistic, and classic films across four theatres, including one on the rooftop, with capacities ranging from 150 to 300. The project will be built on

International architects OMA have completed their latest addition to fashion house Prada’s arts complex in southern Milan, on the site of a former gin distillery. Torre is a nine-level, 60m (197ft) high tower with a facade that alternates between glass and white concrete surfaces. Devoted to “the development of a new typology for the exhibition of art” at Fondazione Prada, the structure’s different levels each have different spatial parameters, due

International architects OMA have completed their latest addition to fashion house Prada’s arts complex in southern Milan, on the site of a former gin distillery. Torre is a nine-level, 60m (197ft) high tower with a facade that alternates between glass and white concrete surfaces. Devoted to “the development of a new typology for the exhibition of art” at Fondazione Prada, the structure’s different levels each have different spatial parameters, due

Six Senses’ newest resort in Fiji has opened with a Six Senses Spa designed as a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Fijian village. Designed by New Zealand-based architect Richard Priest, Six Senses Fiji includes 24 pool villas and 60 residential villas located along a private sandy beach. The 60 residences and all facilities are 100 per cent solar powered by the largest microgrid in Fiji to use Tesla batteries. Surrounded