Japanese architecture practice Nikken Sekkei are designing “a timeless new icon” for the city of Dubai: two soaring towers connected by the world’s largest cantilever. The huge mixed-use scheme, called One Za’abeel, will feature at its heart a dramatic protruding steel skybridge called The Linx. Suspended 100m above the ground, the panoramic space will house restaurants and bars, an observation deck, a gym, a spa, a pool, a banquet hall

Kengo Kuma’s US$33.5m US$33.5m (€31.3m, £26.2m) expansion of Portland’s Japanese Garden, celebrated as one of the most authentic of its kind gardens outside Japan, has opened to the public. The project, Kuma’s first public commission in the US, has seen the creation of a new Cultural Village that provides additional space to accommodate the attraction’s rapid visitor growth and immerses visitors in traditional Japanese arts and culture. To honor the

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Thomas Heatherwick’s New York staircase to nowhere to Studio Gang’s Summer Block Party paper tube installation. Tuesday • The public will soon get an inside look inside one of Antoni Gaudí lesser-known architectural landmarks in Barcelona. Read here. • South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai has opened “car culture experience park” in Goyang in the north of the

A landmark 1925 California hotel with a storied history will be reborn this summer, with new interiors created by celebrity designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard – who has dreamed up glamorous homes for the likes of Tommy Hilfiger, Eva Mendes and Cher. When it first opened in 1925, the Hotel Californian was one of the first of a new wave of Spanish Colonial Revival style structures, but was open for little

Sir David Adjaye has been named the world’s most influential architect by Time magazine. In a citation for the publication, Thelma Golden, the director and chief curator of the Adjaye-designed Studio Museum in Harlem, described the British architect as “one of the great architectural visionaries of our time.” She said: “His work – deeply rooted in both the present moment and the complex context of history – has envisioned new

Global spa consultancy Blu Spas has worked in conjunction with designers Yabu Pushelberg and KEO International to create the 923sq m (9,935sq ft) spa at the upcoming Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya, set to open in mid-2017. The two-level spa will have seven treatment rooms and two luxury spa suites, as well as a hammam, fitness centres for men and women, yoga studio, a beauty salon and barbershop,

W Hotels Worldwide has launched a new concept for its European and North American hotel properties: a private music studio, writer’s room and lounge for musicians and producers to use while on the road. The W Sound Suite will soon open at the W Seattle, allowing hotel guests “to book the studio and live out their rockstar dreams.” The first of the suites opened at the W Bali Seminyak last

The Winkler Hotel in northern Italy's Dolomites is adding a 3,500sq m (37,674sq ft) spa with an extensive sauna area, mountain lagoon and Kneipp tunnel. Built with an investment of €3.2m (US$3.4m, £2.7m), the spa is part of a new addition to the hotel that also includes luxury suites and restaurants designed by architect Astrid Steinwandter set to debut this summer. The interiors and the spa have been designed by

A seemingly doomed plan to build one of the world's largest indoor ice rinks inside a huge New York armoury has been given a new lease of life after state governor Andrew Cuomo committed US$108m (€100.3m, £84.1m) to the project in his 2018 executive budget. Canadian hockey legend Mark Messier has been leading a consortium of investors attempting to get the project off the ground since 2012. However, their hopes

Global finance firm AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets has joined forces with Denmark’s largest pension fund, ATP, to acquire a 650-room lifestyle hotel in Amsterdam designed by the architectural practice of Rem Koolhaas. The four star Nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel – which will feature conference facilities, a wellness centre, skybar and restaurant and its own TV studio – is being built on the southeastern edge of the RAI Expo

Vessel, Thomas Heatherwick’s centerpiece for the public square and gardens at the Hudson Yards development in New York, is rising from the ground. The first pieces of the sculptural urban landmark were placed together earlier this week on Manhattan’s West Side. The public will be able to follow construction progress from vantage points on the High Line and from Hudson Park and Boulevard over the upcoming months. Vessel will be

Los Angeles’ Academy Museum of Motion Pictures isn’t following the Hollywood script during its construction, with skyrocketing costs and lengthy delays holding up the long-awaited project, according to new reports. The Renzo Piano-designed museum, which will be dedicated to exploring and curating the history and future of the moving image – was originally budgeted at US$250m (€233m, £195m) when it was first conceived several years ago, but since then costs

International architecture studio Snøhetta are today (19 April) celebrating the official completion of their hotly-anticipated revamp of the most visited destination in the United States – New York’s Times Square. The firm was commissioned in 2010 to find a way of doubling the amount of public space in the square by creating a new 2.5 acre pedestrian-only plaza on Broadway; transforming a congested vehicular district into a world-class civic space

The ever-busy architecture practice of Kengo Kuma have added yet another large-scale leisure project to their growing slate of work: the Odunpazari Modern Art Museum in the Turkish city Eskisehir. A series of overlapping stacked wooden volumes will form the 3,582sq m (38,500sq ft) museum building, which will display collections of Turkish contemporary art. Located in a recently developed area of the city’s Odunpazari district – which is known for

The sweeping Dolomites mountain range in northeastern Italy has inspired a dramatic new hotel designed by architecture firm Network of Architecture (noa*). The irregular, asymmetrical silhouette of the Hotel Tofana in the town of St. Kassian is designed to evoke one of the tree-lined mountain peaks that dominate the region’s Badia Valley, complete with plants lining the building's terraces and façade. Guests can “ascend” the hotel as if it was

An international design competition is to be held in the next few months for a new concert venue in the heart of Kaunas, Lithuania. Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) has been appointed by Kaunas City Municipality to run the one-stage design contest, which will identify an architect to build a world-class music venue, called the M.K. Ciurlionis Concert Centre, with multifunctional spaces for public and community events. The initiative follows the

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) has invited young local architects to conceive an eye-catching temporary pavilion for Hong Kong, with high-profile designers including Thomas Heatherwick, Sou Fujimoto and James Corner judging their efforts. The inaugural Hong Kong Young Architects & Designers Competition is is intended as a platform for emerging architects and designers “to showcase their creativity and potential” and gain valuable experience. The competition is open to

A new spa has opened at the historic Grand Hotel la Cloche in Dijon, France. Housed in a Haussman-style building dating from 1884, the 88-bedroom hotel is part of Accor’s M Gallery by Sofitel brand, and has recently been renovated by interior architect Frederic Grosjean. “The unique point of this spa begins with the historical location in Dijon, combined with its intimate atmosphere,” Lindsay Madden-Naddeau, director of well-being for Raffles,

Architecture studio Lemay have released new visualisations of the glass envelope they are planning to add to architect Victor Prus’ 1971 landmark Grand Theatre in Quebec. The international firm recently won a design competition for the renovation project, alongside local firm Atelier 21. Together they will revive the Brutalist building, the prefabricated concrete facade of which is facing severe deterioration. A new protective 5,900sq m (63,500sq ft) glass casing will

Antoni Gaudí was the creator of Barcelona’s most famous and significant buildings and parks, including Sagrada Familia and the Palau Güell. Now, final preparations are underway to give the public an inside look at one of his lesser-known architectural landmarks in the city: the Casa Vicens summer home. The house – originally designed by the 31-year-old Gaudí for financial broker Manel Vicens i Montaner between 1883 and 1885 – will

Two major proposed projects from the pen of British designer Thomas Heatherwick have suffered significant setbacks, and now supporters of Pier 55 in New York and the Garden Bridge in London are fighting to keep them afloat. A United States District Court ruled in late March that Heatherwick Studio’s vision for Pier 55 – a 1.1 hectare (2.7 acre) park suspended above the Hudson River – would interfere with the

South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai has opened “car culture experience park” in Goyang in the north of the country. The company brandland is spread out over three floors, accessed through a large lobby with a large-scale digital display projecting images of Hyundai’s latest road and rally cars. The building, called Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang, was designed by Viennese architects Delugan Meissl, while Stuttgart’s Atelier Brückner were behind the exhibition. It is

The American Copper Buildings – a soaring pair of copper-clad luxury rental towers linked by a three-story skybridge 300ft (91.4m) in the air – have welcomed their first residents in New York. The project – a collaboration between JDS Development Group and SHoP Architects – is located at 626 First Avenue along Manhattan’s East River waterfront. The angled silhouettes maximise views of the river and surrounding landmarks such as the

The architecture studio of Norman Foster are actively seeking to develop a large-scale hybrid machine that can produce metal building components directly from CAD models using 3D printing. Foster + Partners are collaborating with ten companies and research institutes to explore the potential of metal-based 3D printing using additive and subtractive manufacturing processes that will enable production within a short timeframe. The proposed technology, called the Large Additive Subtractive Integrated

Architecture studio Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) have been commissioned to design a major extension to the British Library in London. The design team will build 100,000sq ft (9,300sq m) of new spaces on a 2.8 acre site to the north of the library’s Grade 1 Listed building at St Pancras. Their design will include facilities for learning, exhibitions and public use, in addition to a new northern entrance

The Scottish Seabird Centre has unveiled its plans for a new visitor centre at its site in North Berwick, near Edinburgh. The £5.5m proposal would continue the work of the Seabird Centre, an educational destination that enables guests to engage with and learn about wildlife. However, the charitable conservation centre, which opened in 2000, is currently struggling to keep up with visitor demand. The project, dubbed the National Marine Centre,

Young architects from around the world will have an opportunity to travel to China to undertake a research project under the guidance of Ma Yansong, the founder of MAD Architects. The studio has launched the 2017 MAD Travel Fellowship, which will be fund five international undergraduate or graduate architecture students to travel to China, and five Chinese architecture students to travel abroad. The fellowship was initiated by Ma in 2009