Design competition organiser Blank Space has partnered with government authorities in New York to seek a feasible long-term strategy for the city’s response to driverless cars. “Entrepreneurs, innovators, designers, engineers, architects and futurists” are invited to enter The Driverless Future Challenge and pitch concrete design solutions for the cities of the future, which “will be populated with robotic cars chauffeuring their dozing or web-surfing occupants around town.” “The challenge seeks

Budding architects will soon be able to receive tuition from none other than Frank Gehry, who has agreed to organise a new online master class. The Canadian-American architect – best known for his postmodern buildings, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao – will deliver at least 15 video lessons sharing his design philosophy using case studies, sketches and models. The course,

The famous Middle Eastern folk tales of One Thousand and One Nights are the inspiration behind a lavish dome-topped hotel opening imminently in Doha, Qatar. Local practice South West Architecture and Dutch interior designer Marcel Wanders – working in the region for the first time – have collaborated to create the “fantasy-like” Doha Mondrian for hotel operator sbe. Design features are inspired by the local patterns, ornate Arabic writing and

For his latest grandiose Southeast Asian resort project, designer Bill Bensley has taken his inspiration from an unlikely combination of themes: the work of pioneering French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the importance of higher education, Lewis Carroll's novel Alice in Wonderland – and mushrooms. Bensley’s typically whimsical design touches feature throughout the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort in the south of Vietnam – a project the designer has described

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from the Serpentine Pavilion’s next architect to the world’s first ‘bird airport’. Monday • In an exclusive interview with CLAD, the architect who oversaw the creation of Lisbon’s sparkling new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology explains the inspiration behind the acclaimed design. Read here. • Architecture studio HKS have been brought on board to design h.Club LA;

Norwegian architecture firm Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter have won an international competition to design a public trail, amphitheatre and viewing platform along an abandoned railway line in Alsace, France. Described as “a lace undulating in the landscape,” the Chemin des Carrières (or ‘Quarries’ Track’ in English) is designed to remember the history of the landscape and the people who once mined and quarried there. The Rosheim-St Nabor railway, which served the

The extraordinary life and career of music icon David Bowie could be marked with a gravity-defying lightning bolt sculpture in the London district where he was born. Architect Zac Monro, arts collective This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll and sculptor Tom Carter have proposed the three-storey, 9m (29.5ft) tall steel memorial, which reimagines the famous bolt sported by Bowie on the cover of his 1973 album Aladdin Sane as a giant three-dimensional structure

The organisation responsible for delivering the stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has appointed the main contractor to build the 40,000-capacity Al Thumama ground. The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has announced a joint venture partnership between Qatari construction firm AlJaber Engineer and Turkey’s Tekfen Construction will build the stadium, which has been designed by the emirate’s oldest building consultancy, the Arab Engineering

A “stadium-like” new aquatics centre in Budapest has been unveiled ahead of the World Swimming Championships, which will be held at the venue in five months. The Dagály Budapest Aquatics Complex, also known as the Danube Arena, has been completed just two years after the Mexican city of Guadalajara withdrew as host of the championships due to financial problems, and Budapest agreed to step in. The facility was originally designed

Scottish football club Celtic have announced plans for a hotel and museum complex to be built next to the 47-time Scottish Premier League (SPL) champions’ home ground. The proposal, which also includes a ticket office and retail store, will be submitted to Glasgow City Council for approval, with the development to come up outside the main stand of Celtic Park. “The application is part of Celtic’s long-standing masterplan for the

The public consultation process for the proposed Hong Kong Palace Museum has been extended and new designs of the building released, as backers of the project strive to win support for the controversial scheme. A 10,000sq m (107,600sq ft) site on Hong Kong’s western harbour front has been earmarked to house the museum, which would display artefacts on long-term loan from Beijing’s famous Palace Museum under the terms of a

Located in Djibouti on the horn of Africa at the crossroads between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, the 740sq m (7,965sq ft) Kempinski The Spa at Djibouti Palace Kempinski, is now open. Managed by spa brand Resense and designed South African studio K/M2K, facilities include six treatment rooms (including one double suite), a fitness centre, two infinity pools, gym, tennis court, relaxation room, and steam and sauna facilities

Architecture firm Benoy have released their latest designs for a retail-led leisure destination on China’s reclaimed Hexin Island in Hainan province. The 32,000sq m (34,400sq ft) project is the second phase of the wider Sanya Eyot scheme – a resort, billed as “the largest of its kind in the world”, being developed by the China International Travel Service to integrate leisure, high-end hospitality and natural attractions. Benoy have visualised a

Increasing crossovers between work and leisure are creating new challenges for hospitality designers, says Conran & Partners' Tina Norden, in an interview with CLAD. "With the boundaries to the way people live becoming more and more blurred, we're starting to explore sectors we haven't worked in for some time," says Norden. The full interview, in which Norden tells the story behind the award-winning German Gymnasium and talks through the practice's

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is marking its tenth anniversary by publishing a manifesto that identifies the key challenges architects face in the next decade. The ten areas covered in the document are: • Climate, energy and carbon • Water; Ageing and Health • Re-use • Smart city technology • Building technology • Cultural identity • Ethics and values • Power and justice • Virtual worlds The intention is to

Landscape architects McGregor Coxall have won an international competition to design a wetland nature sanctuary envisioned as the world’s very first “bird airport”. Each year more than 50 million birds fly from the Antarctic reaches to the northern tip of the earth along the East Asian-Australian Flyway (EAAF) seeking food and shelter. However, this corridor is under severe threat from coastal urbanisation and the resultant destruction of bird-friendly habitats. In

International hotel group Banyan Tree has joined forces with Turkish real estate developers Nef to develop the group’s first location in Europe. Scheduled to open in the Aegean resort of Yalikavak in 2018, Banyan Tree Bodrum will include a 70-bedroom luxury resort with spa facilities. Situated on a headland of private beachfront surrounded by sea on three sides, the resort will include Banyan Tree’s award-winning tropical spa concept spanning 2,000sq

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has indirectly criticised US president Donald Trump for his attempts to suspend immigration to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries, stating that such restrictions “negatively impact business and the profession of architecture.” The organisation – whose leadership previously had to release an apology after vowing to work closely with the Trump administration – has now released a strongly-worded statement outlining its view that “people

The developers of a 28 hectare sports complex in Hong Kong have released new renderings and a promotional video showcasing the project, which is being considered for approval by the territory’s Town Planning Board (TPB). Located on the former site of the Kai Tak airport in South East Kowloon, the Kai Tak Sports Park has previously been described by the government as “the most important investment in sports infrastructure in

Architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of international studio OMA have been announced as the high-profile designers of the 2017 MPavilion in Melbourne, Australia. The duo will work together to create the temporary landmark and events hub, located in Queen Victoria Gardens, which will host a free, four-month programme of talks, workshops, performances and installations. The MPavilion project began in 2014, and is inspired in part by the annual Serpentine

Diébédo Francis Kéré, the award-winning architect from Burkino Faso, has been commissioned to design the Serpentine Pavilion 2017. The Serpentine Pavilion programme, which began in 2000, sees an architect who has never built in the UK create a temporary summer pavilion in Kensington Gardens. Herzog & de Meuron, Jean Nouvel, Sou Fujimoto, SANAA and Bjarke Ingels Group – whose ‘unzipped wall’ structure was visited by more than 250,000 people in

Wellness real estate and technology firm Delos has announced the latest in a long line of strategic alliances as it continues its bid to expand the global reach of the WELL Building Standard in the architecture and design sector. The latest partnership is with full-service consulting and engineering firm Glumac. The deal will leverage the latter’s extensive network of sustainably-minded clients, encouraging them to pursue the healthy building standard for

Scheduled to open this summer, the reimagined Burgenstock Resort Hotel Lake Lucerne will feature a gargantuan spa covering 10,000sq m (107,639 sq ft). Situated on the shoulders of the Burgenburg cliff and offering views of Lake Lucerne, the Rigi and Pilatus, the new spa is among the largest and most modern in Europe. Aiming to introduce leading wellbeing facilities to provide ‘wellness without limits’ to guests, the concept has been

Ambitious US$100m (€94.1m, £80.2m) plans have been submitted to Kentucky’s Department of Tourism to develop a 1 million sq ft (93,000sq m) retail and entertainment centre – part of a larger plan to develop 300 acres (1.2 million sq m) of tourist attractions. Del Spina Enterprises, a locally-based corporation which submitted the plans, want to develop 100 acres for retail and accommodation, while the remaining 200 acres will be used

In an exclusive interview with CLAD, the architect who oversaw the creation of Lisbon’s sparkling new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology explains the inspiration behind the acclaimed design. Maximiliano Arrocet, a director at architecture practice AL_A, discusses the choices that informed the building’s unique façade, it’s rooftop gathering space and the importance of integrating public realm in high-profile leisure projects. The full feature can be read below. The new

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has released a new video exploring the architectural inspiration and complex engineering challenges facing its forthcoming branch in Dundee, Scotland. The new film features interviews with the building's architect Kengo Kuma, the executive director of Dundee City Council Mike Galloway and some of the engineers and builders charged with realising the ambitious vision for a cultural landmark capable of reigniting the city’s waterfront. They

The Crown Prince of Denmark has inaugurated the new Royal Arena in Copenhagen, designed by architects 3XN to host national and international music, culture and sports events. The €134m (US$142.4m, £114.2m) building, which follows a strong Scandinavian design tradition, is formed of an organic podium supporting an elliptical structure with a wave-like semi-transparent facade. According to the architects, the podium acts as a link to the adjoining neighbourhood – with