Helsinki mayor Jussi Pajunen has formally offered financial backing to plans for the establishment of a fourth European Guggenheim museum in the Finnish capital. The news comes as no surprise as Pajunen has been among the most vocal supporters of the project, which is headed jointly by the Helsinki City Council and the Guggenheim Foundation. Pajunen has now outlined a financial package which will see the council provide 2.8m euros

Construction work has begun on the Ring of Harmony wheel attraction at Shenfu New Town near Fushun, China. The 505ft (153m)-tall attraction will form the centrepiece of Shenfu, an entirely new town being built in the Liaoning province between the cities of Shenyang and Fushun. The wheel has been designed by California, US-based Goddard Group which has also produced part of the master plan for the 10sq km (3.86sq mile)

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £4.2m towards the proposed redevelopment of the Palace House site, Newmarket, into the Home of Horseracing National Heritage Centre. Forest Heath District Council (FHDC) is working with the National Horseracing Museum (NHM) to deliver the project, which includes a full restoration of the Palace House Stables. Earlier this year, Cheshire-based Mather and Co confirmed it had been appointed to develop comprehensive interpretation, design and

Florida, US-based audio-visual integration firm Technomedia Solutions has been appointed by Merlin Entertainments to work on the new Legoland-branded waterpark in Winter Haven. The firm has been awarded the audio-visual systems design-build contract for the waterpark development, which will be located adjacent to Legoland Florida - opened last October. Due to open ahead of this summer, the waterpark will comprise a wave pool; a Build-A-Raft lazy river; tube slides; body

Plans to undertake an "extensive" expansion and renovation of Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, US, have received the approval of the attraction's board of trustees. The H&A Architects -designed project is to form part of a US$45m (£28.2m, EUR33.7m) capital programme currently in its "quiet phase" and which has also included the new Chrysler Museum Glass Studio. Work will commence in July this year and will see 8,000sq

Double Olympic rowing gold medallist James Cracknell will officially launch the £15m SeaCity Museum next week (10 April) as part of Southampton's new Cultural Quarter. The new attraction - housed within the city's former Grade II*-listed Magistrates' Court - has been designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and delivered by Kier Southern. SeaCity Museum comprises two permanent galleries examining Southampton's status as a "Gateway to the World" and its maritime heritage

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) in Sydney has reopened following the completion of a "significant" AU$53m (£34.3m, EUR41.2m, US$55m) redevelopment. Sydney-based Sam Marshall has worked with the New South Wales Government Architect on the design of the new-look attraction, which has added 4,500sq m (43,438sq ft) of space. The expansion has increased MCA's size by nearly 50 per cent and has included three new galleries, a refurbishment of

Work will begin later this year on the US$30m (22m euro, £19m) Ocean Wonders: Sharks! exhibition, the first phase of a US$150m (112m euro, £94m) expansion of the New York Aquarium in New York, US. The 50,000sq ft (4,600sq m) Ocean Wonders exhibit will accommodate 115 species of marine animals, including more than 40 sharks. Housed in an iconic new building and expected to be completed in 2015, the expansion

Titanic Belfast, a new £97m (EUR116.2m, US$154.8m) attraction in Northern Ireland, UK, has opened 100 yards from where the ill-fated liner was launched a century ago. The 14,000sq m (150,695sq ft) building accommodates nine interpretative galleries that will transport visitors back to post-Edwardian Belfast to explore the history of and story behind Titanic. Event Communications has worked on the attraction content of Titanic Belfast, with the nine areas including The

The US$300m (226m euro, £189m) expansion of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, has entered the next phase following the topping off the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center. Scheduled to open later this year, the US$35m (26m euro, £22m) US Freedom Pavilion will be home to a broad variety of exhibits used by the US military during WWII. These include a number of restored airplanes – such

The new National Art Gallery, Singapore in the heart of the civil district remains on track to open in 2015 after the SG$530m (£265m, EUR316m, US$422m) scheme moved onto its next phase. Housed in the former City Hall and Supreme Court buildings, the new visual arts institution has been designed to position Singapore as a regional and international hub when complete. The 60,000sq m (645,835sq ft) attraction is to comprise

Danish brewer Carlsberg has appointed a team lead by US-based architects Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) to design a new themed visitor attraction in the centre of Copenhagen. RAA was appointed after beating four other finalists in a design competition that Carlsberg first launched in 2011. In total, the competition attracted more than 64 entries. The winning team also includes Danish firm PLH Architects, UK-based designers Arup and the Visitor Attraction

Interlink has confirmed it has secured a contract for the design, manufacture and installation of a new Super Flume ride for PowerPark, an amusement park located in Alahärmä, Finland. It is one of a number of deals secured by the company this year and will lead to the creation of a new 400m (1,312ft)-long ride at the park, which features two lifts and two drops. The Super Flume ride will

The not-for-profit Bonifacio Art Foundation (BAF) has unveiled the new Mind Museum in Taguig, a city which is located in the Metro Manila region of the Philippines. BAF has led the project to establish the country's "first world-class science museum", with design work undertaken by Ed Calma of Makati City-based Lor Calma and Partners. The 7,600sq m (81,806sq ft) building, which contains five galleries across two levels, features a futuristic

Imperial War Museums (IWM) has submitted a listed building and planning application to Southwark Council for the transformation of its flagship branch in Lambeth, south London. The proposals focus on the first phase of a longer term masterplan for IWM London, which has been drawn up in partnership with renowned UK-based architects, Foster + Partners. Lend Lease Construction has been confirmed as the construction management contractor on the scheme, which

Dundee-based architects Nicoll Russell Studios (NRS) has been awarded a £1m contract to design a new visitor centre, which is part of the £41m Helix Project near Falkirk, Scotland. The design firm has been chosen following a Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland-managed competition and tender process to create a "functional, yet visionary" facility. NRS will also design an internal public space to be located within a 30m (98ft)-high Kelpie

German ride manufacturer HUSS Park Attractions has begun construction work on a £3.5m observation tower in Weymouth, Dorset, UK. When completed later this year, the 53m (174ft)-tall tower will be operated by Merlin Entertainments and will provide panoramic, 360-degree views over the English channel and surrounding countryside. The structure will be built on the town's Festival Pier and will feature a rotating gondola of 12m in diameter, capable of accommodating

The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) in Ohio, US, has announced that its new building in the Uptown district of University Circle will open on 8 October. London, UK-based Farshid Moussavi Architecture are behind the design of the new facility, which aims to provide a catalyst for "creativity and growth" in the surrounding neighbourhood. The 34,000sq ft (3,159sq m) building is 44 per cent larger than MOCA's current rented

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to mark the start of construction work on Miami Science Museum's (MSM) new US$275m (£175.3m, EUR209.9m) home in Florida, US. The 250,000sq ft (23,226sq m) Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science is due to open in 2015 and has been designed by international architectural firm, Grimshaw Architects. A major 600,000 gallon (2.3 million l) aquarium; a full-dome 3D planetarium; and hands-on exhibits are

International spa company ESPA has announced the first of its planned cultural partnerships for 2012 with the sponsorship of the annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in Hyde Park, London, UK. The pavilion is a temporary structure commissioned annually by the Serpentine Gallery to provide a showcase for contemporary architectural practice. This year, the gallery has been designed in partnership by Chinese artist and architect Ai Weiwei and Swiss architects Herzog &

Cork County Council (CCC) is planning to establish a "cluster" of activities and attractions as part of its vision for Spike Island, a former military and penal site in southern Ireland. A masterplan design team led by Scott Tallon Walker Architects has been appointed to draw up proposals for the site, which includes landscape strategist Mitchell and Associates. The initial phase of developing the island will be to increase the

Chester Zoo has unveiled plans to bring the islands of Sumatra, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines to Cheshire, UK, as part of a £30m scheme showcasing its conservation work. The Islands project is to enable visitors to explore the themed and immersive landscapes by boat or on foot, with features including educational exhibits, play areas and eateries. Species including the Indonesian Rhinoceros Hornbill and the Sumatran Orang-utan will be

A design team has been selected for the renovation and expansion of the Kimball Art Center in Utah, US, which is home to Sundance House during the annual Sundance Film Festival. Denmark-based BIG and US-based Architectural Nexus will lead the team that also includes Dunn Associates, VBFA, Envision Engineering and Big D on the proposed scheme. Work is due to commence on the project in mid-2013, with the project to

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, US, is planning a comprehensive revamp of the four-block-long plaza alongside its iconic Fifth Avenue facade in downtown Manhattan. New fountains are to be installed closer to the attraction's front steps to replace ones built in the 1970s as part of the scheme, with the plaza to feature tree-shaded alles. The renovation will be funded by museum trustee and philanthropist David H

Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has confirmed that funding is now in place for work to commence on the new Battle of Bannockburn visitor centre near Stirling this summer. On a visit to Stirling Castle, Salmond said building and landscaping work will commence in early summer, with the preservation of the site's historic monuments also due for this year. Edinburgh-based architects Reiach and Hall led the team behind designs for

Beecher Walker Architects and Layton Construction have been selected by the Living Planet Aquarium board of trustees to build a new home for the attraction in Draper City, Utah, US. The US$18m (£11.4m, EUR13.7m) aquarium building is to be located off Interstate 15 and establish a new home for the attraction, which first opened at The Gateway in 2004. A new 130,000sq ft (12,077sq m) facility will offer significantly more

Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) has revealed the opening dates for three museums that form part of the Saadiyat Cultural District in the United Arab Emirates. Located on the Saadiyat Island development in Abu Dhabi, the first attraction to launch is to be the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2015. Zayed National Museum will follow a year later. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be the third new museum to be unveiled