A new book devoted to the art of theme park design is to launch on 28 March 2016. Theme Park Design & The Art of Themed Entertainment, aimed at designers, students and theme park fans, brings together a wealth of tips and advice from design experts from Disney, Universal and Merlin’s creative studios, as well as many more. The book promises to be a comprehensive study of experience design in

A leading architect in the conscious cities movement – which is exploring how architecture and urban design can better consider and respond to our needs – has told CLAD how emotionally-aware urban environments could add a necessary element of fun and surprise into our day-to-day lives. Architect Itai Palti, founder of research group Conscious Cities, called for academics, scientists, developers, policy makers, architects and designers to collaborate on making our

Danish studio Henning Larsen Architects have been commissioned to create a special cultural pavilion in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the 2016 Olympic Games. The public pavilion will be located on the world-famous Ipanema Beach with the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Mountain providing a dramatic backdrop. The 300sq m (3,200sq ft) installation is intended to provide a destination for cultural exchange between Denmark and Brazil for the

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has invited architects, landscape architects and urban designers to propose designs for a new music-led cultural complex on an island on the Han River. An international architecture competition will be held to select a masterplan for ‘Nodeul Dream Island,’ which will host concerts, festivals, exhibitions and other cultural events. The island, which is currently covered in trees and farm land, is linked to the city either

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is now accepting entries for the 2016 WAF Awards, which will take place in Berlin in November. The prestigious competition is divided into 30 project categories for completed architectural projects, future projects and landscape projects. Leisure architects can enter their designs for cultural buildings, hotels, sports facilities and leisure-led developments. The deadline for entries is 19 May and the shortlist will be decided in June

FC Barcelona has announced that Japanese architects Nikken Sekkei and Spanish studio Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes have won the hotly-contested tender to design the new Camp Nou, following a final meeting of the judges today (8 March). The jury – made up of five FC Barcelona members, three members from the Catalunya’s architecture association and a city council representative – praised the winning proposal as “open, elegant, serene, timeless, Mediterranean

New images have been released of the ambitious Olympicopolis cultural development planned for London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. A selection of renderings and models show the scheme’s main leisure institutions located on Stratford Waterfront, including a new V&A museum, a Smithsonian gallery and a 600-capacity theatre and hip hop academy. Olympicopolis – which is a legacy project inspired by the successful London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – has been

Australian developer Lendlease has unveiled plans for a new billion-dollar city precinct for Melbourne, which will have a floating sky park at its heart. Melbourne Quarter will be a 2.5 hectare block in the city’s business district, between the famous Collins and Flinders streets and located close to Zaha Hadid’s mooted vase-inspired mixed-use tower. Alongside offices and residential apartments, many public leisure facilities are planned and over half of the

A BMX and skate park has opened within an old Victorian bathing house beneath the seafront in the British town of Hastings. Source Park is formed of a main park, a plaza and a skating shop in the 1870s White Rock Baths building, which once housed the town’s Turkish Baths and smoking rooms – a popular destination for the country’s first seaside tourists. Since the baths closed, the building has,

The construction of the Museum of the Second World War – described by its director as “one of the biggest cultural investments being undertaken in Europe” – is on course to open in early 2017 in Gdansk, Poland. Building on the project, which has been designed by Polish practice Studio Architektoniczne Kwadrat, began in 2012 and is now entering its final stages. The museum will seek to explore the course

The Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre – an intimate, boutique-style hotel in the heart of Dubai’s business district – is set to open this month, complete with a private rooftop spa, fitness and leisure ‘oasis.’ With 106-bedrooms, the Four Seasons DIFC is located within the 45 hectare (110 acre) DIFC, which also hosts the Ritz Carlton DIFC. The new Four Seasons DIFC features interiors by New York-based Tihany

Interior designer Inge Moore and her studio, The Gallery HBA, have redesigned an island safari lodge in Botswana, creating a luxury getaway inspired by the diverse wildlife of the Okavango Delta. The old Belmond Eagle Island Lodge was completely dismantled and many of the materials reused to create a contemporary space sensitive to both the ecology and aesthetics of the delta. Twelve 62sq m (667sq ft) tented guestrooms – their

Danish practice Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects have broken ground on an art gallery and clubhouse in southern China, built in the centre of a lake. The building, located in the mountainous district of Gao Yao to the west of China’s third-largest city, Guangzhou, will be a 3,160sq m pavilion for a new development of villas at the base of the mountain. The studio collaborated with a Feng Shui master to

Italian luxury fashion house Fendi has opened seven private designer suites above its flagship store in the heart of Rome. The luxury hotel and boutique shop are both located in Palazzo Fendi, a five-storey 17th-century residence overlooking Via dei Condotti and the city’s famous Spanish Steps. Each suite covers over 1,000sq ft (92.9sq m) and features original Karl Lagerfeld photographs and fur made by the brand’s own artisans. The design,

Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang has been named Architect of the Year at the Women in Architecture awards, with Gabriela Etchegaray winning the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture. The judges heralded the duo for demonstrating “excellence in design and a commitment to working both sustainably and democratically with local communities.” While the judges particularly praised the architects for their social and commercial work, both have also designed a number

Norwegian architects Snøhetta have today (4 March) launched a solar-powered light installation in Singapore to promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. The structure – called Lampshade – is a simple bamboo volume covered with photovoltaic (solar power) cells. It is is filled with intense light during the evenings using solar energy collected during the day. The installation is being displayed at i Light Marina Bay, Asia’s leading sustainable light art

The Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain, a resort in America's Paradise Valley, is in the final stages of developing its Spa House, a 3,500sq ft (312sq m), four-bedroom private mountain home dedicated to wellness. Set to open in April 2016, the Spa House – designed by Arizona-based interior design firm Testani Design Troupe and architecture firm MoD A+P – features three king bedrooms and one guestroom with two double beds. The

The 50-storey Shangri-La Hotel, Doha has opened in the Qatari capital, with 272 bedrooms as well as the brand’s signature CHI The Spa. The hotel includes an aquamarine lagoon-shaped pool set on a 2,000sq m (21,528sq ft) deck surrounded by 70 leafy trees, as well as a health club with 24-hour fitness centre, sauna and steamrooms. Designed by H.O.K. Architects, the Shangri-La Hotel, Doha also includes 42 serviced apartments and

It’s been another busy week in the world of leisure architecture, design, investment and development, and CLAD has reported on some exciting trends and discoveries which will have big implications for the industry. We covered an important new study into graphene, which found that by using biomimicry this nanometre thin material could be applied in buildings as ‘smart wallpaper’ to generate electricity from waste light or heat, potentially revolutionising how

Jean Nouvel’s long-running bid to renovate and expand Geneva’s Museum of Art and History has received what appears to be a fatal blow after his plans were narrowly rejected in a public vote. Despite receiving planning approval and funding, the 131m CHF (US$129m, €120m, £93.4m) project to refresh Marc Camoletti’s 1910 neoclassical landmark faced a local referendum after criticism from campaigners. According to Swiss reports, 54 per cent of voters

The Chicago Shakespeare Theater is expanding its footprint on the city’s iconic Navy Pier, with US$35m (€32.2m, £24.9m) being used to develop a flexible third stage capable of being adapted based on the performance. With audience capacity ranging from 150 to 850 in an enclosed space beneath the domed Skyline Stage area, the theatre, known as The Yard at Shakespeare, will have the capability to project images onto the underside

Aman’s first Japanese hot springs resort, Amanemu, has opened in the idyllic setting of Ise Shima National Park on the shores of Ago Bay. Providing a rural complement to Aman Tokyo, and continuing Aman’s journey within Japan, Amanemu has adopted a classic Japanese aesthetic in the ryokan tradition with each of the 24 suites and four two-bedroom villas featuring their own onsen. Designed to be a relaxed, peaceful and contemplative

A German artist and a Zurich hotel specialising in creating “special experiences” have collaborated to send guests on a voyage to outer space. Michael Najjar and the Kameha Grand Zurich Hotel have opened an exclusive Space Suite on the hotel’s fifth floor, with the highly-detailed interiors designed to make those who stay feel as though they are embarking on an intergalactic journey. The two-person room features a floating zero gravity

A spokesperson from Grimshaw Architects has confirmed to Attractions Management that the practice has won an architecture competition to develop a horse theme park in Yeongcheon, South Korea. The firm’s winning scheme, called The Park EverYoung, has been developed in collaboration with South Korean firms NOW Architects, Group Han Associates, Dohwa Engineering and DE Partners. A rendering published online by the The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) shows the 148 hectare

French studio Stephane Malka Architecture will introduce a flower-filled green space to one of Paris’ most urbanised districts after winning a competition to masterplan a €5m (US$5.4m, £3.8m) landscaped garden. The 1,500sq m (16,100sq ft) project, called OXyGen, will bring a colourful flower garden, open terraces and a number of new restaurants to Vignes in La Défense; the French capital’s business hub. “Inspired by the tradition of the romantic gardens

In recent times, CLAD has reported on a glass-bottomed swimming pool suspended between two towers and a glass bridge crossing a canyon. Now, a forthcoming Los Angeles attraction is taking things one step further, with an outdoor glass slide located 1,000ft above the ground. The 45ft Skyslide will link the 70th and 69th floors of the Bank Tower; the tallest building on the west coast of the US. Thrillseekers who

Luxury hotel interior design studio MKV Design have completed two new hotels in Baku, Azerbaijan, which celebrate the city’s industrial past and its ongoing transformation into a modern, international metropolis. The hotels, called the Intourist and the Boulevard, are both part of Marriott's Autograph Collection brand and are operated by Absheron Hotel Group. The Intourist – designed by hotel architects ReardonSmith as a successor to a now-defunct 1930’s Baku hotel