Pritzker laureate Glenn Murcutt and architect Wendy Lewin are designing a museum in the Australian Outback to showcase the world’s greatest public collection of rare opalised fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs. The Australian Opal Centre will be built in the mining town of Lightning Ridge, constructed within a giant void excavated from the earth in 2013. The project is being funded by the New South Wales government, business donations

The foundations have been laid for Santiago Calatrava’s showpiece UAE Pavilion for the Dubai World Expo in 2020. Inspired by a falcon in flight, the four-storey structure will represent the nation to the 25 million visitors expected to attend the architecture festival, which is themed ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’. Displays will showcase the country’s culture, history and development plans. Located in the centre of Dubai’s 200-hectare exhibition zone, the

Diébédo Francis Kéré’s acclaimed 2017 Serpentine Pavilion – one of London’s architectural highlights this year – has found a new home in Malaysia. The ILHAM Gallery in Kuala Lumpur has announced it has been able to acquire the popular pavilion “due to the generous donations by our philanthropic friends and supporters”. The structure will be transported to Malaysia early next year, and ILHAM plans to eventually install it in a

Construction will begin next month on a new concert hall in Andermatt, Switzerland, the town chosen by the Swiss as a strategic military outpost for the Second World War, and which is now one of the country’s largest Alpine resorts. The project has been designed by London practice Studio Seilern Architects, who have just received planning permission to create a “world-class concert facility comparable to those in European capitals.” Andermatt

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (14 December) announced the RIBA International List 2018, a new biennial selection of the world’s best new buildings. A number of leisure projects are included in the prestigious longlist, including high-profile museums designed by the likes of Heatherwick Studio, Stanton Williams, AL_A and Bjarke Ingels Group. Libraries, cultural centres, a hotel and a concert hall are also recognised among the 62

A starry shortlist has been announced in the international competition to find a design team to create a new art museum in Adelaide, Australia. The Adelaide Contemporary – conceived as a sister museum to the Art Gallery of South Australia – will include an art gallery, a public sculpture park and a meeting place for the city. The competition brief required proposals that "integrate art, education, nature and people" and

One of the design team responsible for realising Ai Weiwei’s huge ‘security fence’ installations across New York has told CLADglobal the popularity of the project demonstrates why cities and developers would be “mad” not to commission creativity. Dan Tobin, the founder of international creative design and delivery studio Urban Art Projects (UAP), said that boundary-pushing art “sparks conversations, activates communities, creates memories, celebrates different cultures, drives tourism and enables micro

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) has been welcoming the first visitors to its new home this week, located in the heart of the burgeoning design district in Miami, Florida. The striking building, with a facade of metal triangles, was created by Spanish architecture firm Aranguren + Gallegos. To celebrate the opening and take advantage of having twice as much space as in its former home, ICA is offering a

Vessel – the sculptural urban landmark Heatherwick Studio have designed as the centrepiece for New York’s Hudson Yards development – topped out yesterday (6 December) after eight months of construction. The honeycomb-like structure, described by its creators as “one of the most complex pieces of steelwork ever made” has reached its full 150ft (46m) height, revealing how it will ultimately provide a one-mile vertical climbing experience. New construction images reveal

British conservation charity the National Trust has announced that architecture practice Allies and Morrison will reimagine and rebuild Surrey’s Clandon Park, a historic Palladian mansion gutted by a fire in 2015. The firm was selected ahead of five other rivals in an international design competition, organised by Malcolm Reading Consultants. However, in an unusual move, one of the other shortlisted practices, Purcell, has joined the winning ticket as conservation architect.

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have revealed their latest major US project – a sports and entertainment neighbourhood in Texas under a dramatic chequered roofscape. Ambitious plans for the 1.3 million sq ft (121,000sq m) East Austin District were announced today (5 December) by Austin Sports & Entertainment, founded by sports media executives Andrew Nestor and Sean Foley. Located at the home of rodeo in Austin, the new complex is described

A cultural hub designed by Japanese Pritzker-winning architect Fumihiko Maki has opened in Chinese megacity Shenzhen in partnership with the V&A – the first collaboration between a British museum and a Chinese partner. The Sea World Culture and Arts Center (SWCAC), located in Shenzhen Bay, is formed of three white cantilevered volumes atop a deconstructed plinth. A tilted landscaped roof, open to the public, provides panoramic views while pathways extend

Designers GSM Project have delivered three exhibition spaces for the new Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, allowing visitors to “discover innovations and technology through immersive experiences”. The three galleries include 19 integrated interactive and media displays and a number of large-scale exhibits. The first gallery, ‘Into the Great Outdoors’, showcases more than 100 years of technological developments geared toward conquering and roaming vast landscape – from bicycles to

The ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, has greenlit plans for a 3.3km (2.1 miles) beachfront development incorporating new sports facilities, pedestrian areas, public services and landscaping. The Sharjah Urban Planning Council’s (SUPC) has proposed the project – which will include dedicated cycling paths, exercise areas and places for family activities – as part of its wider strategic plan to use leisure and regeneration to attract more

A vacant plot located along the Harlem River waterfront in New York has been earmarked as the site for a major new residential and leisure development – including a home for the city’s first dedicated hip hop museum. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has announced a raft of ambitious plans for its new Bronx Point destination, including public open spaces, a hi-tech multiplex theatre, education facilities for

Australian architecture studio Group GSA have won a design competition to create an information hub for the ski resort hosting events during the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Four Seasons Town Reception Center will welcome spectators to Fulong Four Seasons Resort – the Olympic venue located 90km (56 miles) northwest of Beijing in the city of Chongli, Hebei province. Fulong is a master-planned, year-round community featuring 37 ski trails – the

Artist Asad Raza has created an indoor tennis court with a difference: it sits within a deconsecrated 16th-century church. Rather than an excitable crowd of spectators, players in the San Paolo Converso arena will be surrounded by murals of Saint Paul. Otherwise, though, the space is set up like a typical court – complete with lines, netting, racquets, chairs, a jug of iced jasmine tea and even coaches to practice

The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) orchestra has commissioned Frank Gehry to design a permanent new centre for aspiring professional musician in its home city – almost 15 years after he completed work on LA’s renowned Walt Disney Concert Hall. The American-Canadian architect will transform a 17,000sq ft (5,182sq m) facility in Inglewood to create a central resource centre for young musicians to receive training, counselling and mentoring on their

In a piece of good news for aspiring Holly Golightlys – it is now possible to follow in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn and have breakfast at Tiffany’s in real life. Tomorrow (10 November), Tiffany & Co’s flagship jewellery store in New York is opening its first-ever retail dining concept, The Blue Box Cafe, as part of a comprehensive fourth-floor renovation. The in-house creative team have designed both the new

Architecture and design studio Rockwell Group have completed a 6,000 capacity music and arts venue in Washington DC, anchoring a new mile-long neighbourhood along a channel of the Potomac River. Designed in collaboration with developers PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette, The Anthem is a 130,000sq ft (39,624sq m) space dedicated to indie and alternative music as well as conventions, art exhibitions, seminars, banquets and fashion shows. Rockwell Group were inspired

French architect Jean Nouvel has revealed a preview of the 1,050ft (320m) high tapering tower he has designed for New York, with renderings showing the development that will fill a condo with culture. Building work on the project, called 53W53, has reached the 58th floor, and it is already towering over the adjacent Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which will be incorporated into the new development. New computer visualisations illustrating

American architect and former Disney executive Wing T Chao will receive the Pioneer Award from The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) for services to entertainment design. The annual award, established in 1996, recognises an individual “who has made an outstanding contribution, achievement and or improvement in the hospitality industry”. Chao worked for Disney for 37 years from 1972, with his roles including vice chair of development for Walt Disney

New York practice SHoP Architects have completed their expansion of SITE Santa Fe, one of the most respected contemporary arts venues in the US. The museum – which runs year-round exhibitions, artistic residencies and educational programmes to foster avant-garde art – has occupied a former warehouse in the Santa Fe Railyard since its opening in 1995. SHoP were brought in to emphasise SITE’s role as “a progressive and dynamic cultural

Dutch architects MVRDV have completed the Tianjin Binhai Library in China, a 33,700sq m (362,700sq ft) cultural centre featuring a luminous spherical auditorium which doubles as an enormous mirrored ‘eye’. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases cascade organically around the auditorium, forming the building's main spatial device, while also creating stairs, seating, the layered ceiling and louvres on the façade. The five-storey building holds 1.2 million books, which can be taken to a multitude

The David Chipperfield-designed Turner Contemporary is set to undergo a £5.3m (US$7m, €6m) expansion, new plans have revealed. A spokesperson confirmed to CLADglobal that discussions with partners and funders had begun, with the gallery now developing ideas for the attraction. Arts Council England (ACE) has already committed £3m (US$4m, €3.4m) to the plan and Kent County Council will also play a major part in financing the extension, with the authority

Hastings Pier by dRMM Architects has been announced as the winner of the 2017 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building. In a landmark moment for leisure architecture, the public attraction – which was built to restore a seaside pier ravaged by fire – was hailed by the prize’s jury chair, RIBA president Ben Derbyshire, as a “masterpiece of regeneration and inspiration”. “The architects and local community have

Contemporary art museum The Bass has reopened following a US$12m (€10.3m, £9.1m) renovation headed by project architects David Gauld and Arata Isozaki. The privately run, city-owned museum in Miami Beach, Florida, managed to avoid major damage from the recent Hurricane Irma, but the project had been delayed for more than a year.