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.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) has announced it has hired David Chipperfield Architects to create a master plan for its expansion ambitions, following “a thorough and inspiring search.” The design practice will develop prospective design solutions to enhance the museum’s visitor experience and to expand public access to the museum as a community resource. They will consider how to improve visitor circulation, create new public gathering spaces, add more

Adjaye Associates, Ron Arad Architects and landscape designers Gustafson Porter + Bowman have been selected to design the UK’s new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, it was revealed today (24 October). The new national landmark will stand in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament in Victoria Tower Gardens, London. It will honour the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered in the Holocaust, and all other

A brightly lit, rainbow-coloured greenhouse has popped up in downtown Tokyo, Japan, inviting guests to step inside and interact with the sights and sounds created by its vegetable inhabitants. Japanese creative studio Party, which is headed up by Naoko Ito, created the Digital Vegetables installation to run over a three-week period until 5 November. Inside the greenhouse, which is covered in LED lights, visitors are invited to “Touch Design. Bathe

A striking new museum dedicated to the life and work of French fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent has opened today (19 October) in Marrakech, Morocco. French architecture firm Studio KO designed the 4,000sq m (43,000sq ft) terracotta brick home of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent on a site next to the city’s Jardin Majorelle, a garden the designer acquired himself to save it from being destroyed by developers. Saint Laurent

Dutch architects MVRDV are have announced a large-scale leisure project in Shanghai that will see the firm meld nature, culture and entertainment in a huge public park on an island in the Yangtze River. Zhangjiang Future Park will become a new focal point for the district of Pudong, with communal public facilities built into a series of green landscaped buildings surrounded by 10,000sq m (107,600sq ft) of plazas converging towards

Adjaye Associates have revealed their design for a new spy museum and interactive experience in the heart of New York, which is set to open this December. The studio’s design for the 60,000sq ft (5,500sq m) building, called SPYSCAPE, is inspired by the architectural language of the world’s largest spy organisations and has been developed in collaboration with former directors of intelligence agencies and station chiefs. Conceived as an “iconic

London’s first new purpose-built commercial theatre in decades opens tomorrow (18 October) in the shadow of the city’s famous Tower Bridge, with its co-founder hailing the project as “a completely new type of theatre for the city.” Nick Starr, who has established the Bridge Theatre with fellow impresario Nicholas Hytner, told CLADglobal that it “will offer a different level of flexibility for actors, writers and directors working in London.” The

A futuristic home has been built for a Roman museum in the French city of Nîmes – in stark contrast to the real-life Roman amphitheatre next door. Construction has been completed ahead of the opening of the Musée de la Romanité de Nîmes in June 2018, with 5,000 exhibits from a collection of 25,000 set to move in over the coming months. Architect Elizabeth de Portzamparc is behind the striking,