Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron have unveiled their plans to redesign the Klein Titlis, a 50-year-old mountaintop observatory station in Switzerland. The firm’s plan – dubbed Titlis 3020 – will see the current structure gain a new antenna tower and expanded gondola station in addition to an underground tunnel which will offer visitors a close-up glimpse of the glacier’s inner 'heart'. Other amenities and facilities will include an

Architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi have released the latest set of renderings for the Baker Museum Repair and Expansion Project – the first stage in the renovation of the Artis–Naples campus in Florida. The work is required to repair damage caused by Hurricane Irma, which flooded two floors of the institution in 2017. The estimated US$70m (€61.3m, £53.5m) Weiss/Manfredi redesign features storm-resistant stone and metal cladding. Other updates to the 8.5-acre cultural

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has unveiled plans to create two interconnected sites at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – a brand-new museum at Stratford Waterfront, and a new collection and research centre at Here East. Describing the move as "revolutionising how its collection of art is accessed and explored", the project has been named V&A East. The V&A's main site is located in Kensington, London and is the

The International Spy Museum (SPY) has announced plans to relocate to a new, larger property next year. The 16-year-old attraction, which houses extensive collections of spycraft artefacts and highlights the global history of tradecraft, will move to a 140,000sq ft building on L’Enfant Plaza near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Designed by architects Rogers, Stirk, Harbour + Partners, the new facility will be twice the size of the current

Swiss architectural firm Herzog and de Meuron have released new renderings of their Kulturforum (Culture Forum), an extension of the Berlin-based Neue Nationalgalerie. The future structure, which in 2016 was selected to become the city’s Museum of the 20th Century, will be a stylistic hybrid, taking inspiration from public and private buildings like warehouses, barnyards, and railway concourses as well as the nearby Matthäus-kirche (Matthew's Church). Likening the Kulturforum to

The Arts District in El Paso, Texas is to welcome a new addition in the form of the El Paso Children’s Museum, which will sit between the El Paso Museum of History and the El Paso Museum of Art. Norway-based architectural practice Snøhetta have been selected to design the new museum, which will aim to engage children and families from El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, the American southwest, and the nearby

Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) has released details of three new attractions planned for the iconic London building, which is currently under renovation. The additions will include a large events venue, a 109 metre-high glass elevator which travels up one of the famous chimneys and a 250-person capacity immersive space in a former control room. All three spaces will open as part of the second phase of the building's

A dramatic mountain-top arts centre has been built in the Yanshan mountains in China. The Hilltop Gallery – also known as the Phoenix Valley Summit Art Centre – was designed by the Chinese architecture studio, deep Architects (DA). The undulating structure follows the topography of the mountainside and has been built in concrete, bamboo, and terracotta. The 2,600 sq m building has a ballroom, theatre, open cooking area, lounge and

American artist James Turrell has recently unveiled Skyspace: Lech – the latest iteration of his Skyspace series, which was first developed in the 1970s. Located 1,780m (5,800ft) above sea level in the Arlsberg mountains of Austria, the tumulus-like structure–dubbed the lightroom on the mountain – was produced in collaboration with German architectural firm, Baumshlager-Eberle. Turrell, who draws artistic and spiritual inspiration from religious sites like the Egyptian pyramids, Machu Picchu,

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has been selected to reimagine the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Building in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The firm contended against 47 contestants from around the globe in a competition organised by the Sverdlovsk Region’s Ministry of Construction. Located in the midst of the Ural mountains, the proposed sonic wave-inspired concert hall–which, not surprisingly, has already drawn comparisons to a spaceship–will comprise a 1,600-seat auditorium as well as a 400-seat chamber

Frida Escobedo, the youngest person yet to design a temporary Pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in London, has recently sold her creation to international spa and wellness company, Therme Group. According to Architects' Journal, Therme Group, which is perhaps most famous for operating Therme Bucharest–the largest thermal leisure facility ever developed in Europe on a greenfield site–made overtures to and later reached a deal with Escobedo’s Mexico-based firm in order

Australian property company Northstar Developments has unveiled plans to construct a floating island oasis in the shallows of the Swan River in Perth. Designed to be a watersports and general leisure destination, the Swan River Deck–if approved–would be a jellyfish and algae-free zone, comprising multiple naturally heated pools, an outdoor cinema, a sand-bar for sunbathing, a top platform for dining and lounging, and a green-roofed conference hall with rooms inside

MLK Boston – a non-profit which supports cultural programmes focused on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr – has unveiled the final designs for a memorial to the late activist and his wife, Coretta Scott King. The competition, first announced in December 2017, received 126 submissions; five made the final cut. Once chosen, the winning design will stand near the Massachusetts State House, in the 50-acre Boston Common. Among

Architectural firms Snøhetta and DIALOG have completed construction on Calgary’s New Central public library. The US$146m (€127m, £112m) building, has been created to "inspire Calgarians for the next 100 years", with an opening date set for 1 November. The city’s mayor, Naheed Nenshi, said the new centre, which is based at the intersection of downtown Calgary and the East Village neighbourhood, would have a "starring role" in putting Calgary on

Work is almost complete on what will soon be the world's largest underwater restaurant, with the Snøhetta-designed project in Norway on track to open next year. Called 'Under', work on the concrete, 600sq m (6,500sq ft) structure, reached a milestone in July when engineers began the “sinking process”, which saw the building lowered into the North Sea at the southernmost point of the Norwegian coastline by the village of Bål.

British artist Es Devlin has been selected to design the UK Pavilion for the upcoming 2020 Dubai Expo. Known for working with a range of media – often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms – Devlin is the first woman to be awarded the honour since the contest’s inception in the mid-nineteenth century. The pavilion's design will showcase Britain’s contributions to the artificial intelligence (AI) and space

Global architecture and design practice Populous has opened an office in the Dubai World Trade Centre, its first in the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region. The move coincides with the company’s additional announcement at the beginning of the week that it would also open an office in Dallas. Ben Vickery, senior principal and Dubai office lead, said: “Establishing an office in the Gulf will enable Populous to be closer

Philip Vivian, director of the multidisciplinary design firm Bates Smart, has criticised plans by the Australian government to demolish and rebuild Sydney's Allianz football stadium at Moore Park. In November 2017, the government announced it would spend AU$2.7bn (£1.5bn) to demolish and rebuild two of Sydney’s major stadiums. In March 2018, it was decided that Sydney's Allianz would be the only site to be rebuilt. In a statement, Vivian responded

Rotterdam-based architectural firm MVRDV has completed construction on the Imprint, a two-building, 9,800-square-metre indoor theme park and nightclub located less than a kilometre from Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea. Visually, the Imprint is a windowless structure comprising 3,869 glass-fibre reinforced concrete panels. According to Winy Mass, MVDRV’s co-founder, these features were introduced in order to create a façade that would imitate other buildings in the area. “By placing, as

A unique new art gallery that is buried in a sand dune is close to completing construction on the coast of Bohai Bay in northern China. Spanning a total area of 10,000 sqf (930sq m), the museum will accommodate a number of galleries of varying size, multiple studios and a café when it opens later this year. Operated by Chinese contemporary art institution UCCA in partnership with museum architects OPEN

American billionaires Mitchell and Emily Wei Rales are to reopen the Glenstone Museum, showcasing their extensive collection of post-war art, in Maryland, US next month following renovations and an expansion. The museum, located on the grounds of a former hunt club near Washington DC in Potomac, has undergone a serious overhaul. The attraction now boasts additional exhibition space, two cafés, a bookstore and a total of 230 acres of landscaped

Princeton University has selected Sir David Adjaye and Cooper Robertson to lead on the redesign and expansion of the school’s historic art establishment. The collaborators will spearhead the development of new exhibition halls, as well as classrooms and office spaces for the museum's 100-person staff. First instituted in 1882, the Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is one of the oldest institutions in the US. Its wide-ranging collection, which comprises more

Architectural studio Graham Baba and landscape design firm Greenworks have released images of their plans to regenerate Terminal 1 on the Vancouver waterfront in Washington state. The building project coincides with a $1.5bn initiative by Waterfront Vancouver LLC and Gramor Development to reconnect 35 acres of the Columbia riverfront to downtown Vancouver. Both areas have been separated for over a century. Port of Vancouver project manager Jonathan Eder said: “Terminal

The 2016 Serpentine Pavilion installation, designed by renowned architectural practice Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), has now opened in Toronto having been rebuilt in the Canadian city. Originally designed for Kensington Gardens in London for the Serpentine Pavilion event – an annual architectural installation in the English capital commissioned by the Serpentine Galleries – the structure has been created out of 1,802 fibreglass 'blocks' that create a wall at the top,

In a bid to boost tourism in the region, China's government has announced plans to invest CN¥134bn (US$19.5bn, €16.7bn, £14.8bn) across 17 major entertainment and culture projects on the South China coast. Based around the southern Chinese coastal city of Beihai, three of the projects are worth more than CN¥10bn (US$1.5bn, €1.3bn, £1.15bn), with a further seven costing between CN¥2bn (US$300m, €256.5m, £228.4m) and CN¥10bn. The final seven will be

French architects Titan have built a replacement visitor centre at the home of former French leader Georges Clemenceau after the original was destroyed by Cyclone Xynthia in 2010. The house's new entrance pavilion has been designed to blend into its coastal surroundings – clad entirely in sand-coloured concrete – and houses a museum shop and educational space. Clemenceau, who was French president during the First World War and one of

The V&A Dundee has released new images of its interiors ahead of its eagerly anticipated, official opening on Saturday 15 September. The museum is Scotland’s first dedicated design museum and was designed by Kengo Kuma. V&A Dundee focuses on the international importance of design, as well as presenting a history of Scotland’s design achievements. The Scottish Design Galleries feature 300 exhibits drawn from the V&A’s collections of Scottish design, as