The Hive – Wolfgang Buttress’ award-winning multi-sensory pavilion – is to be given a new home within London’s Kew Gardens. The structure was the centrepiece of the UK’s entry at the six-month long 2015 Milan Expo, where it attracted more than 3.3m visitors and was awarded the BIE Gold Award for Architecture and Landscape. It will be displayed at Kew – a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing 132 hectares of

New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has unveiled revised US$445m (€407.3m, £310.6m) plans to redevelop and expand the facility, with plans by Diller Scofidio + Renfro streamlining the museum experience to work better for both visitors and curators. The expansion of facilities, expected to be complete by 2020, will increase gallery space by 30 per cent – an increase of 40,000sq ft (3,716sq m) to 174,000sq ft (16,165sq m).

Uber is quite literally propelling itself into new transportation markets with the advent of its new helicopter service, UberChopper. Eager to expand into forms of transport beyond its usual car service, Uber has been experimenting with helicopters, boats and even rickshaws in recent years. UberChopper has been offered at several high-profile leisure events in the last six months, including the Cannes Film Festival and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival,

The foundation stone for David Chipperfield’s Mughal Museum building in Agra, India, has been laid near the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal. The museum – which will be dedicated to the history and culture of Northern India's Mughal dynasty – will accommodate 5,200sq m (55,972sq ft) permanent and temporary exhibition space, according to Chipperfield’s studio. The first rendering for the museum suggests it will be formed by a series

Aspiring young British costume and set designers have been encouraged by film and theatre director Sam Mendes to submit their own designs for his hit musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Mendes – who has won Academy and Olivier accolades for his work – has launched the The Young Theatre Designer Award, which challenges entrants aged 13-21 to bring Roald Dahl’s famous story of Charlie Bucket, Willy Wonka and the

The new home of the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) will officially launch to the public on Sunday (31 January) with an all-day open house. Designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), the project integrates a pre-existing 48,000sq ft (4,459sq m) art deco building – the former 1939 printing plant of the neighbouring UC Berkeley – with a new 35,000sq ft (2,251sq m)

Lifestyle brand Virgin Hotels will open its first California location in Palm Springs in late 2018. The hotel will feature 150 bedrooms, multiple restaurants, a rooftop terrace and pool, and a spa – likely similar to its first spa location in Chicago, where clients can completely customise treatments. Designed by local architect Chris Pardo, the hotel will be located in the heart of downtown Palm Springs and surrounded by historic

A facility billed as “the largest bouldering gym in the world” has opened in Austin, Texas after two years of construction. The 50,000sq ft (4,650sq m) facility, called the Austin Bouldering Project, was designed by Dylan Johnson of DJA Architects, with interiors created by local studio Lilianne Steckel and realised by general contractor LaBelle Construction. The developer was Texan company 3423 Holdings. The gym features 23,000sq ft (2,100sq m) of

Tree-loving Italian architect Stefano Boeri has lined up his next forest-inspired project: a resort property in China’s Guizhou province. The Cachet Hotel Group has announced Boeri will partner with acclaimed local artist Simon Ma to build the centrepiece of Cachet Wanfeng Valley – its first resort development in Asia. The group has unveiled renderings of the pair’s design for a striking “lifestyle destination” with trees on every terrace. The building

The exhibition designers of Singapore’s recently relaunched National Gallery have laid out the idea behind the concept – a walk through time using the medium of art to tell the story of Singapore and southeast Asia. The gallery, which opened its doors to the public at the end of last year, was a collaboration between several architects and design studios. Working closely with its studio in Paris and with architect

Four of the world's best-known architects have united in calling for New York developers to create more public leisure space. Rick Cook, Bjarke Ingels, Annabelle Selldorf and Richard Meier made the case for green space in a roundtable discussion called The Future of New York's Skyline, organised by cultural collective 92nd Street Y. Pritzker Prize winning architect Richard Meier said buildings should be a “gift to the city,” but voiced

Seven international architecture studios have been shortlisted to design the landmark new home for the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art in Riga. Henning Larsen Architects, Caruso St John, Neutelings Riedijk and Adjaye Associates are among the big names in contention for the €30m (US$32.6m, £22.8m) project to create “a cultural and arts centre of interregional significance.” “Creating a museum, which can compete with others around the world is a specialised

A museum extension nearly 15 years in the making will finally be completed when the Swiss National Museum in Zurich opens its new wing to the public on 1 August 2016. The new wing is formed by a modern and minimalist geometric volume designed by Basel practice Christ & Gantenbein. It was commissioned following an international design competition in 2002, but a period of consultation and political negotiation followed and

Peter Law, creative producer at design collective Flying Object and creator of Tate Britain’s IK Prize-winning Sensorium, has outlined how multi-sensory spaces can be used to create unique personal experiences. Sensorium – which utilised experts in sound, taste, scent and touch, combined with lighting and theatre elements – ran until September 2015 at the Tate Britain in London as a multi-sensory experience centred around four famous artworks. "We had an

Renowned London nightclub Annabel’s is to be given a new lease of life with plans to incorporate a range of leisure and wellness facilities as part of relocation proposals. The basement nightclub in Mayfair, which has hosted the likes of Princess Diana, Sir Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra, Grace Jones, Kate Moss and Madonna in its 50-year existence, could soon be providing a substantially revamped offering. Restaurateur Richard Caring, who bought

The Ritz-Carlton is opening a new hotel and spa near Scottsdale, Arizona with a focus on fitness, health and wellbeing. The Ritz-Carlton Paradise Valley, developed by Five Star Development Resort Communities, will include a 10,000sq ft (929sq m) spa with ten treatment rooms, in addition to a residential component. Designed by Peter T. Mason of California-based Mason Architects, the Ritz-Carlton Paradise Valley will be spread over 20 acres and consist

Two major exhibitions open in London this week exploring how architects can change the world in different ways. Creation from Catastrophe, which opens on 27 January at the Architecture Gallery of the Royal Institute of British Architects, will explore how destruction and devastation present unique opportunities to radically rethink environments. With a focus on architects as diverse as OMA, Toyo Ito, Sir Christopher Wren and Elemental – whose founder Alejandro

Visitors unable to travel to New York can now explore the famous interior architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum thanks to Google Street View. As part of a collaboration between the museum and the Google Cultural Institute, anyone with an internet connection can take a 360-degree look at the building’s famous circular galleries, spiralling ramps and oculus. In addition, 127 artworks from the museum’s collection are also

Populous, the architects behind London’s Olympic Stadium, have won the contract to design a 40,000-capacity stadium for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The studio will be charged with creating a “new neighbourhood” as part of the proposed host venue development on the waterfront of Ras Abu Aboud, Doha. Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has revealed the stadium would be built on a 450,000 sq m (4.8m sq

Multi-national conglomerate Virgin has announced its first branded hotel has achieved LEED Gold Certification, with the company outlining ambitious plans to create a zero carbon footprint hotel business. Virgin Hotels Chicago, located in the US city’s Loop district, has been awarded the accreditation by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), which analyses the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. CEO of Virgin Hotels Raul Leal pledged the

The worlds of architecture, art and fashion have collided at Sexy Fish, a lavish new Asian seafood restaurant in London opened by British restaurant magnate Richard Caring. Aquatic-themed artworks by Damien Hirst, architect Frank Gehry and Vanity Fair style editor Michael Roberts decorate the extravagant interiors, which have been designed by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio to emulate “the style and sophistication of a mid-century brasserie.” The eye-catching collection of art

The president and CEO of Miami’s Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science has insisted the high-profile relocation of the museum to its “next generation” new home on Miami’s waterfront will be completed despite a US$45m (£31.3m, €41.5m) shortfall in funding. The museum’s new three-storey facility – designed by Grimshaw Architects – is entering the final construction phase four years after work first began. However, the project has received less

Entertainment technology company, IMAX Corporation, which specialises in creating immersive, large-screen 3D and 4D cinematic experiences, is moving into the US health and fitness industry. The company has applied for a permit to open an indoor cycling studio in Brooklyn, New York, which will be fitted out with a giant screen. “The gym would consist of tiered rows of stationary bikes which would face the screen, which would play original

Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have been appointed to design a new stadium for National Football League (NFL) team The Washington Redskins, according to several US news sources. The Washington Post has reported that the team’s owner Dan Snyder wants to relocate the franchise from its current 82,000-capacity ground at FedEx Field in the state of Maryland – which it has occupied since 1997 – and build a

Irish architects Heneghan Peng have won the international design competition for new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario with their plan for a winding glass pavilion on the Trent-Severn waterway. The new US$45m (€41.6m, £31.5m) building – described as “a Canadian game changer” by the museum board – will be located on an early 20th century boat lift and will house the world’s largest collection of canoes and kayaks. There

Plans to build a commercial, financial and residential township in Laos feature a 60-hectare (148-acre) theme park – the first major amusement attraction in the Southeast Asian country. The Thakhek Dream World City development – in Thakhek town in the central Laotian province of Khammouane – consists of a 7-hectare (7-acre) financial district, a 300-hectare (741-acre) mixed-use space with offices and residential space, and a 200-hectare (494-acre) retail and tourism

Andrew Gibson, vice president of spa & wellness for FRHI – parent company of hotel brands Swissotel, Raffles and Fairmont – has said wellness in hotels is beginning to move beyond the confines of spa. Speaking last week at the London Health Show about design trends in the spa industry, Gibson highlighted how everything from air quality to lighting to building materials can affect the experience of guests. “This is