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

25 years on from its inception, work is nearing completion on Newmarket’s £14m (US$20.4m, €18.2m) National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art, which sees the Palace building and stables transformed to create a state-of-the-art museum dedicated to the sport of horseracing. Celebrating more than 350 years of sporting history, Mather & Co are behind the plans, which gained Heritage Lottery funding in 2012 to the tune of £4.25m (US$6.2m,

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has announced it will transform the landmark Metropolitan Building in Detroit into 110-bedroom Element Hotel. Element Detroit at the Metropolitan Building will open in July 2018. It will be owned and developed by Metropolitan Hotel Partners; a joint venture between Detroit developers Means Group and Roxbury Group. The 14-storey Metropolitan Building is a neo-gothic icon designed by local firm Weston and Ellington in 1925. Located

The “first 3D-printed office in the world” has been unveiled in Dubai, marking a milestone in the development of 3D technology and paving the way for architects to build across different typologies in less time and for less cost. According to its developers, the building is the first of its kind prepared for actual use. Key services, such as electricity, water, telecommunications and air-conditioning have all been integrated into the

With its mass appeal and ability to unite people worldwide, sport offers a powerful platform for demonstrating and communicating the importance of sustainability. That’s the view of Chris DeVolder, sustainable design leader at architecture firm HOK. In a column penned for the latest issue of CLADmag, DeVolder reflected on the changing nature of sports-oriented design, particularly with city centre sports developments returning to favour. “By establishing new paradigms for environmentally

David Chipperfield Architects have presented the schematic design for the new Nobel Center in Stockholm to the public, weeks after the controversial project received the green light from the city council. While the architects have maintained their initial concept for the building – which will house the Nobel Foundation headquarters and a museum for the organisation – the design has been developed in order to “strengthen its public character” The

Pritzker Prize winning architect and theorist Rem Koolhaas has called for more communication between architects; criticising those who are unwilling to listen to those from different cultures and with different value systems. According to US publication Fast Company, the OMA founder made the statement during a session held on the final day of the American Institute of Architects Convention in Philadelphia. "Architecture has a serious problem today in that people

The iconic Swiss hotel Waldhaus Flims is undergoing a CHF40m (US$40m, €36m, £28m) renovation aimed to maintain the property’s storied heritage while enhancing the resort to a luxury alpine hotel and spa. The 150-bedroom hotel was acquired by Z Capital Partners – the same company that also recently acquired wellness hotel Carillon Miami Beach – in December, marking the group’s first international expansion. The renovation is being undertaken by Hong

Lausanne in Switzerland has unveiled plans to combine the city’s three major art and design museums into a single cultural hub, with all three institutions getting new homes as part of the landmark development. Known as Plateforme10, the three museums will sit on 22,000sq m (237,000sq ft) of repurposed industrial land next to the city’s main train station. Laid out as “an open terrace, an esplanade revealing the scope of

Australian developer Sterling Global has submitted plans for a Jean Nouvel-designed mixed-use tower in Melbourne, which will have different designs on all four sides. If approved, the AUS$700m (US$501m, €448m, £345) project will be constructed on the city’s La Trobe Street to house restaurants, bars, penthouses, apartments and a luxury hotel and skybar. The design of the 242m (794ft) tower stands out for its four distinct sides. Three form a

The extension of a luxury London hotel by Richard Rogers is nearing completion. The renowned architect, and his practice Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, have designed a fresh architectural appearance to the front façade of the Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge, adding “a touch of contemporary theatre” to the 1970s building. The hotel’s entrance is being extended outwards and fitted with glass, steel and carbon fibre beams to create what the

Health and wellness hotel specialist Henri Chenot is opening a five-star retreat in Azerbaijan near Gabala lake, marking the brand’s first venture outside the Italian border. Based on the holistic detox and revitalisation Chenot methods, the Chenot Palace Health Wellness Hotel Gabala will be both a medical spa and a medical clinic dedicated to improving the health, wellbeing and natural appearance of guests. It is set to open in November

Construction has begun on Aykon City; a four-tower mega-project in Dubai which will bring new leisure space to the city’s skies. Designed by Handel Architects for developer DAMAC, the towers will house hotels, offices and residences. They will be supported by a podium featuring leisure amenities for the public – including a beach club with swimming pools and green spaces, a children’s playground, an Aykon Spa, restaurants, high-end shops, cafes,

The first images of the long-awaited extension to the Tate Modern art gallery in London have been released ahead of its official public opening on 17 June 2016. The Tate Modern was created in 2000 by Herzog and de Meuron, who transformed the derelict Bankside Power Station on the River Thames into a home for the UK’s collection of international modern and contemporary art. The architects reunited eight years ago

German architecture studio von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (GMP) have won an international competition to design an Urban Concert Hall in the Chinese city of Chengdu. The firm’s vision for the project was chosen by city officials ahead of competing entries from Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid Architects, Nikken Sekkei and Aedas. They will now set to work completing a final design for the building, which will have opera and concert

The completed first phase of redevelopment at Chicago’s Navy Pier will be officially unveiled on 27 May, kicking off a year-long programme of celebrations. Landscape architecture and design firm James Corner Field Operations have been revamping the pier since winning an international design competition for the US$278m (€255.9m, £197.6m) project in 2012. Phase one includes new arts and cultural programming, restaurants and landscape design across nine acres. It has been

DGT Architects have been awarded the Grand Prize 2016 by the French Architects Overseas Organisation (AFEX) for their work on Estonia's new national museum. The studio will collect the award on 26 May in Venice to coincide with the opening of the city’s 15th architecture biennale. DGT won an international competition to design the new home for the Estonian National Museum in Tartu by challenging the competition brief. Instead of

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Architects Foundation have partnered with architecture firm HOK to research how better design practices can improve public health. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding, the trio will identify and develop opportunities to translate research on healthy architecture into practice. HOK will leverage its global network of architects and clients to accumulate existing research and identify how to move this knowledge

Hilton Worldwide has launched a new lifestyle hotel brand and plans to open the first property in Reykjavik, Iceland next month. Canopy by Hilton – a joint venture between Hilton and real estate firms The Buccini/Pollin Group and Federal Realty – will lend its name to a series of hotels opening across Europe and the US in the next two years. Canopy hotels will provide “unique and local experiences” by

This week was a big one for leisure architects, designers and developers in the exciting world of museum design. In Hungary, local architects Napur overcame strong competition to win the contract for the city’s Museum of Ethnography building; new video footage emerged of David Adjaye’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C; the Heneghan Peng-designed Palestine Museum opened without any exhibits; and French architects Studio KO

English football club Forest Green Rovers has revealed nine stadium designs in the running to provide the blueprint for its new home ground. Almost 50 entries were received from architecture studios of various sizes around the world after an international architecture competition was launched in April. The competition brief called for a fan-focused and sustainable design in line with the club’s strong environmental principles. The nine shortlisted architects are: •

A garden pavilion fabricated by robots has opened to the public in the grounds of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London. The Elytra Filament Pavilion is formed of tightly-woven carbon fibre cells, inspired by shells of flying Elytra beetles. The pavilion has been created by experimental architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann in collaboration with engineers Jan Knippers and Thomas Auer and researchers from the University of Stuttgart.

French architecture firm Studio KO have teased the first design images of their forthcoming Yves Saint Laurent museum in Marrakech, Morocco. The renderings reveal a terracotta brick structure, formed of curved lines and straight edges. The building will span 4,000sq m (43,000sq ft) on a site next to the city’s Jardin Majorelle – a garden much loved by Saint Laurent, who was a regular visitor to Marrakech before his death

David Rockwell has collaborated with seven famous street artists to create VANDAL; a new street food restaurant in New York. Located on Bowery Street in Manhattan, the bi-level, 350-seat restaurant is a labyrinthine web of private rooms, secret catacombs, hidden gardens and surprising art installations. Rockell’s design team planned VANDAL’s interiors and British street artist Hush curated the wallscape. He created seven huge murals for the space and commissioned six

Investment firm Legal & General Property has committed more than £53m (US$78m, €69m) to acquire and fund the development of a new retail and leisure scheme in the heart of Dover, UK. The project has been in the works for over a decade, and forms part of the local council’s regeneration work to support the coastal town’s growing population. Called St James, Dover, the project will provide 157,000sq ft (1.7m

Lanserhof Lans, the world-famous Austrian destination spa, is undergoing a major renovation between May and December 2016. The existing facility will be extended and a new building by German-based architect Christoph Ingenhoven will also be added. Ingenhoven is one of many regular guests to the detox retreat in the alpine state Tirol. The new structure – an oval building with a wooden façade and a grassy roof – will have