The Hyatt Hotels Corporation has officially opened its first European resort; Park Hyatt Mallorca. The Spanish property, which is located across five hectares in the Cap Vermell Estate, is designed in the style of an authentic Mallorquín hillside village. Buildings designed by DSA Architects International are spread across three main terraces and smaller terraces typical of traditional local agricultural settlements have also been scattered across the development, with prominent use

Designs by a number of architects competing to design a €30m (US$34m, £23.6m) contemporary art museum in Latvia have been unveiled. The seven teams – shortlisted from an invited list of 25 global architecture firms and each paired with a local design team – include Adjaye Associates and AB3D; Caruso St John Architects and Arhitektu birojs Jaunromans un Abel; Henning Larsen Architects and MARK arhitekti; Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects and

Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia has told CLAD that real estate developers must push for green design practices if human beings are to survive and prosper. Nghia – who is best known for his intricate bamboo leisure buildings – said humans have become too disconnected from nature, “causing conflict, wars and the destruction of the planet." “Capitalism always requires development, but development needs a lot of energy,” he said. “If

The £15m Crewe Lifestyle Centre, designed to be accessible for people with special needs and dementia, has been officially opened by the president of the International Paralympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven. The 7,800sq m (83,959sq ft) two-storey building is to serve as a central hub for the community of Crewe, UK, bringing together a range of different services under one roof. Architects Pozzoni were appointed by Cheshire East Council and

Much of CLAD’s coverage this week was unsurprisingly centred around the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale. The event is the biggest in the industry’s calendar, and CLAD was there to take a look at this year’s pavilions – exploring different challenges and solutions facing built environments around the world – and to meet some of the most influential architects working in leisure. Among the exhibits that caught our eye were Spain’s

The Museum of London is looking into the possibility of opening a viewing gallery at the top of London’s upcoming 1 Undershaft. The towering skyscraper – which will be as tall as the neighbouring Shard if approved to open in 2022 – will be located in the heart of the capital's financial district. When Eric Parry Architects unveiled the plans in December 2015, the design envisioned large areas of public

Eight New York parks have been selected for reconstruction as part of the Parks Without Borders campaign to beautify the city’s public spaces. The scheme launched in November 2015 with US$50m (€46.8m, £32.8m) in mayoral funding. The public were invited to vote for the parks they would most like to see improved, following the Parks Without Borders design principles – increasing accessibility, opening sight lines, beautifying edges, adding furnishings and

The leader of South Korea’s newly-created Administrative City has launched an international architecture competition for a National Museum Complex (NMC) that will help make the destination “a global culture city”. Choongjae Lee, the city’s administrator, has vowed to build “the world's most beautiful and liveable city” through investment in architecture, technology, urban planning and design and environmental sustainability. The Administrative City, also known as Sejong, was established in 2007 and

Hotel operator Four Seasons has opened its fifth Hawaiian resort; a new property on the island of O’ahu. The Four Seasons Resort O’ahu at Ko Olina is located on the ocean in the community of Ko Olina. At the heart of the property is a 17-storey terraced hotel – originally designed by architect Edward Killingsworth in 1998 and now renovated by Honolulu studio Philpotts Interiors – that was once the

MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas has said architects should do more to instil clarity and purpose into their work. Speaking during the Next Creation forum on urbanism and the development of cities in China at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Maas called for “vagueness to be killed” in architecture. “I think every project should be so radical and clear that it shows what it wants to add to the world and how

A hotel in Bath, has unveiled an extensive renovation of its spa facilities as it bids to become one of the top spa destinations in the UK. Bath is famous for its hot springs and spa culture, and boasts many of the country’s most popular spa destinations. In order to remain competitive, The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa has invested in renovating its spa facility The Bath House into a

Zaha Hadid’s Mathematics Gallery for London’s Science Museum will open to the public on 8 December 2016, it has been announced. Hadid studied mathematics at university, so the project was close to her heart. Called The David and Claudia Harding Gallery in honour of two of its major donors, the space will explore how mathematicians, their tools and ideas have helped to shape the modern world over the last four

The president of France Francois Hollande was on hand yesterday (31 May) for the pre-opening of La Cité du Vin; a new international cultural wine centre for Bordeaux, France. Designed by Paris studio XTU Architects, the complex is a permanent 13,000sq m (140,000sq ft), €136m (US$151.3m, £104m) visitor experience celebrating the history of winemaking. It opens to the public today (1 June). The building’s curving form was designed by architects

Twickenham – the home of English rugby – is embarking on a redevelopment plan which will see the transformation of its east stand. The work will double the available space on the east stand, creating an additional 10,750sq m (115,712sq ft) to facilitate improvements to existing hospitality areas. KSS Architects have been selected to modernise the exterior of the stand as part of the project, although the existing bowl infrastructure

The British Film Institute (BFI) has unveiled ambitious plans to build a new world-class International Centre for Film, TV and the Moving Image – a move heralded by the great and the good of British cinema. The BFI has revived a long-gestating plan to create a flagship national home for the film industry on the site of an existing car park on London’s South Bank, near its current cinema venue.

The international jury of the 15th Venice architecture Biennale has awarded the Golden Lion award for Best National Participation to Spain, for its pavilion Unfinished. The Spanish exhibition was one of 65 national pavilions at this year’s Biennale. Each engaged with festival curator Alejandro Aravena’s chosen theme Reporting From the Front to show examples of problems facing the built environment in their countries and some suggested solutions to these challenges.

Two yet-to-be-built stadiums have been selected to host the National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl in 2019 and 2021. In a move which appears to encourage the development of new infrastructure, NFL owners plumped for Atlanta Falcons’ HOK-designed Mercedes-Benz Stadium – which is due to open its doors in 2017 – for the 2019 edition of the flagship match. The 2021 Super Bowl will be contested at the future home

Restaurants of the future could look a lot lighter because of Dutch architects MVRDV’s latest creation: a fully transparent glass kitchen. The installation, called Infinity Kitchen, was created as part of a satellite event for the Venice Architecture Biennale commissioned by Weng Ling of the Beijing Centre for the Arts (BCA). The Infinity Kitchen is a proposal for the next stage of kitchen design. It features completely transparent surfaces, shelves,

Norman Foster has unveiled a full scale prototype for a new droneport to be used to deliver medical supplies and other essential equipment across Africa, and said that the vaulted brick structure could have multiple uses, including for leisure developers. Launching the project at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Foster described the structure as a "high tech mud building". The Droneport, which is the first project to be presented by the

Richard Rogers has warned that the “the erosion of public space by the private market is a really serious problem in cities.” In an interview with CLAD at the launch of the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, where his firm RSHP have an exhibition, Rogers urged architects, developers and the public to “defend our public spaces.” “Leisure space, public space, is at the very root of democracy, and architecture is about

Zaha Hadid Architects have been appointed to design a landmark cultural quarter overlooking the seafront in Bournemouth, England. Initial proposals for the site, which is currently home to a car park, include a multi-use performance space, a hotel, restaurants and new public realm linking the cultural quarter to the beaches, town centre and forthcoming Winter Gardens scheme via a new Grand Garden Walk. The project will cost a reported £25m

Bjarke Ingels will participate in a public forum in Paris on 30 May to present the latest incarnation of his vision for EuropaCity – one of the largest leisure developments on the continent. In a surprise announcement, Ingels’ studio BIG have invited Parisians to the session to learn about the project – which will create a new 80 acre urban centre between the city centre and Charles de Gaulle Airport.

New York’s Bronx Museum of the Arts has announced plans for a multi-million dollar architectural overhaul, resulting in more space for the institution’s public programmes and exhibitions. A public-private partnership between the museum and city of New York, the US$25m (€22.4m, £17m) project is being funded by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and overseen by the NYC Department of Design and Construction. Venezuelan-American architect Mónica Ponce de León and

Meliá Hotels International is opening a sustainable hotel in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. The Meliá Serengeti Lodge, scheduled to open in June 2017, will be located 700m below the peak of Nyamuma mountain, on the western border of the World Heritage Site at Lake Victoria. Guests to the hotel will have a panoramic view of a river valley that hosts some of the most remarkable scenes in nature: the annual

Danish company Kvorning Design & Communication are simultaneously developing projects across all of Norway’s World Heritage sites, creating bespoke exhibitions for each site celebrating the country’s history. Kvorning beat a number of Norwegian architecture firms in a design competition for the contract, which includes the DKR24m (US$3.65m, €3.25m, £2.55m) development of a visitor centre at each of Norway’s eight World Heritage sites. Included in this list is Struves Geodetic Arc,

Alejandro Aravena has officially launched the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale by firing a broadside at decision makers and architects who put profit ahead of the public good when creating our built environments. “Banality and mediocrity in architecture are as damaging as not responding to basic needs,” said the Pritzker laureate at this morning’s (26 May) press conference for the festival, which he is curating. “Corporate architects [and developers] are the

Texas Rangers – the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise – has moved a step closer to building a new US$1bn (£680.1m, €894.2m) stadium after the council agreed a financing package for the development. Arlington City Council unanimously approved a master agreement in which the funds for the stadium would be split between the team and public finance. A public vote will now be held in November to ask residents if