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

The highly-anticipated St. Louis Aquarium, designed by PGAV Destinations, has opened its doors at the city's Union Station, a former train station and National Historic Landmark that has been converted to become a mixed-use entertainment destination. Among Union Station's features are its Grand Hall, which features original terrazzo flooring, green-glazed terracotta bricks and stained glass windows, and the St. Louis Union Station Hotel, which still offers some of the station's

Studio Studio Studio, a new interdisciplinary collaboration lab founded by Edoardo Tresoldi, have created a 26m (85ft)-high pavilion from cork and mesh with intimate spaces and narrow paths that visitors can explore. Gharfa is part of the Diriyah Oasis temporary creative district in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. Tresoldi aimed to create "a theatrical world where technique, reality, and illusion are all intertwined." Mesh has been used to sculpt

Hassell and OMA have completed construction of the New Museum for Western Australia, which houses museum exhibitions, event spaces and public areas in a newly unified group of old and new buildings. Located in Perth, the facility combines four heritage-listed buildings with a newly created volume, tripling the size of the museum. Inside, there are eight new galleries, a 1000sq m (10,800sq ft) special exhibitions gallery, multipurpose spaces for programs,

Herzog & de Meuron have won a competition to design a new museum complex on China's Grand Canal with the aim of the reflecting the river's importance in Chinese culture and to create a new gathering place. Situated in the city of Hangzhou at the junction of the Grand Canal and the Hanggang River, the museum will be surrounded by water on three sides. it will cover an area of

The Contemporary Calgary art gallery is set to reopen next month following the first phase of a $92m (€83m, £71m) transformation and expansion of its home at the former Centennial Planetarium, carried out by Gibbs Gage Architects and KPMB Architects. Known for its brutalist architecture, with an imposing concrete dome atop the main structure, the building is having its existing spaces renovated and a new wing constructed. The first phase

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

Construction of a new pavilion at the Seattle Aquarium, designed by LMN Architects, looks set to go ahead after the city council approved a US$34m (€30.7m, £25.8m) contribution towards funding. Designs for the US$113m (€102m, £85.8m) 50,000sq ft (15,240sq m) Ocean Pavilion project were unveiled in 2017. It will see a 325,000-gallon (1.5-million-litre) martini glass-shaped tank built to house sharks, stingrays, and schooling and reef fish from the South Pacific's

BarberMcMurry Architects have released three concept designs for the US$100m (€90.2m, £75.9m) Knoxville Science Museum in Knoxville, Tennessee, that variously feature a green roof, a terracotta screen and a treehouse. The museum will occupy 150,000 sq ft (14,000 sq m) and will include indoor and outdoor dining areas, an event space, meeting and maker spaces, and will incorporate the three city garages surrounding the property. The firm was tasked with

A long-proposed US$3.8bn (€3.4bn, £2.9bn) theme park at Hwaseong, 45km (30mi) from South Korea's capital Seoul, looks set to go ahead after the country's finance minister pledged the government's support. To be built by Shinsegae Property Consortium, the park will feature five hotels, an 18-hole golf course and three shopping malls. Reports suggest that huge Korean pop music (K-pop) and natural history areas will act as the centrepieces of the

The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) reopened on 30 November after a renovation lasting more than four years, however, it was forced to close again temporarily due to its proximity to the ongoing protests in the city. The renovation work was carried out by Hong Kong's Architectural Services Department, which is responsible for the design and construction of many of the territory's public facilities. Exhibition space has been increased

maison h have unveiled designs for a Winter Olympics Museum to be built in the mountains north of Beijing in Chongli, China, that is aimed at building on the legacy of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and will form part of the 2022 Winter Olympics development. The museum is part of a broader project to revitalize the city centre by improving the quality of public space and connecting and adding

Cartoon Network has revealed plans to open a new, immersive hotel experience to the public in mid-2020. Developed in partnership by Cartoon Network and Palace Entertainment, the 165-bedroom hotel will include some of the world’s most well-loved cartoon characters in its theming. Facilities at the nine-acre destination hotel will include an interactive lobby, a resort-style pool and water play zone, an outdoor amphitheatre with an oversized movie screen and interactive

Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism has confirmed that the Foster + Partners -designed Zayed National Museum will open in 2021, nine years after its initial planned opening date. Conceived in memory of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the UAE, the museum was first announced in 2007 as one of three major museums planned for Saadiyat Island's Cultural District in Abu Dhabi. While the

Clymb Abu Dhabi, a climbing and sky diving attraction on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, is to open on 29 November 2019, according to owner Miral. The building was designed by Cansult Maunsell, an operating company based in Dubai and part of global consulting firm Aecom. The US$100m (€89.8m, £77.3m) project will deliver the world's tallest indoor climbing wall at 140ft (43 metres) tall, and its widest skydiving flight chamber, spanning

Dorte Mandrup and her studio have won a competition to design an attraction dedicated to whales that will rise organically out of the ground and merge with the surrounding landscape. Called The Whale, it will be located 300km (186mi) north of the Arctic Circle on the northernmost part of Andøya island in Andenes, Norway. The area is regarded as one of the best places in the world for whale-watching and

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have released images of Copenhagen Zoo's giant pandas settling into its completed yin-yang-shaped enclosure. Construction of the Panda House began in 2017 and earlier this year it became home to Mao Sun and Xing Er, who are being loaned from China to Denmark. BIG designed the 2,450sq m (26,400sq ft) enclosure with the wellbeing of the pandas and with the potential for their mating in mind.

Snøhetta have designed a visitor centre for Arctic preservation storage called The Arc with an exhibition building that is towering and monolithic, but also curved and organic. The facility was commissioned by Arctic Memory AS to showcase content from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the Arctic World Archive, as well as to educate visitors and inspire innovative preservation solutions for the world's food and digital resources. Located 78° north

The newly opened Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, has been designed by HKS Architects to not only be very adaptable depending on what events it is hosting but to pay homage to a neighbouring entertainment, sports and livestock complex. The $540m (€486m, £420m) centre sports an Art Deco and Moderne architectural style in keeping with the nearby Will Rogers Memorial Center, with two towers anchoring its north façade, rendered

Hudson Yards has announced that its Kohn Pedersen Fox -designed observation deck Edge will open in March next year at a height of 1,131ft (345m) and will extend 80ft (24m) out from the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards. Edge, which Hudson Yards says will be the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, features an outdoor glass floor and an outdoor staircase from levels 100 to 101 with

Architects WilkinsonEyre and landscape architects Grant Associates have unveiled a conceptual masterplan for "a global leisure and recreation destination" on two islands off the south coast of Singapore. The Sentosa-Brani Master Plan is part of a wider scheme to rejuvenate Singapore’s Greater Southern Waterfront. The scheme would use the natural features and tropical landscape of the islands as a backdrop for leisure attractions and day-to-night hospitality offerings. New public realm

Plans have been revealed by Brisbane City Council for a 150ha (16 million sq ft) wetlands development in the city that will include a community hub, walking routes, events spaces and canoe and kayak facilities. Formerly a site for wastewater treatment and waste disposal – and a source of pollution for the local area – the Archerfield Wetlands are part of a wider AU$100m (US69m, €62m, £53m) transformation project for

The UK government has announced a £250m (US$322m, €290m) Culture Investment Fund for England. The funding package will be spent on infrastructure projects in the culture, museums and libraries sectors. More than £125m (US$161m, €145m) of the fund is earmarked for investment in improvements to regional museums and libraries. As the recipient of the largest single contribution from the fund (£18.5m US$23.8m, €21.4m), the National Railway Museum in York will

Legacy Entertainment has designed a 27,500sq m (296,000sq ft) aquarium called The Sea Shell for Phu Quoc island, Vietnam. The building will open early in 2020. Habitats will provide animals with ample space to ensure their wellbeing, while the life support systems will be provided by Advanced Aquarium Technologies. The interior experience, created by designer James Hampton, will take guests on a journey through five galleries, each relating to different

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is raising a targeted $18.2m (€16.5m, £14.4m) to remodel its facilities, improve its learning experience and build a marine rehabilitation centre, with design work by Dangermond Keane Architecture and Walker Macy. Although the facility is only one of three in the Pacific Northwest that is authorised to provide critical care to endangered marine wildlife, it is was not purpose-built. Instead, it's current rehab centre is housed

Sculptor David Černý and architect Tomáš Císař from the studio Black n' Arch have designed a 135m ( 450ft)-tall tower for Prague shaped like an upended shipwreck with an observation deck at the top. Top Tower comprises a conventional high-rise tower with a base section that partially acts as a pedestal for the accompanying sculpture, which takes the form of a sunken ship's skeleton covered in seaweed. The sculpture is

The Silverstone Experience, a journey through the home of British motor racing, is to open in a refurbished WW2 RAF hangar later this month. The £20m (US$24.6m, €22.3m) development has taken seven years to bring to fruition and included the restoration of the 4,000sq m (13,100sq ft) hangar. Led by architect Jane Lock-Smith of Cube Design, the project required more work than was initially expected, with the hangar having to