New York studio REX have been chosen as the lead designers for the forthcoming Performing Arts Center building at the World Trade Center (PACWTC). The architects have been selected over rival firms Henning Larsen and UNStudio to design the 80,000sq ft (7,400sq m) mixed-use cultural venue – which will produce works of theatre, dance, music, opera and film. Once completed, the Performing Arts Centre will form part of the wider

Basra, site of some of the most fierce fighting during the Iraq war, has revealed a redevelopment masterplan which will include the construction of a vast vertical city called The Bride. The scheme is described by its designers – AMBS Architects – as “the tallest structure and first vertical city in the world and a groundbreaking project in all disciplines of engineering.” The development will featuring entire neighbourhoods, commercial centres,

A Norwegian architecture group is transforming an earthquake-hit urban area in Valparaiso, Chile into a community venue for music, theatre and circus performances. The Scarcity and Creativity Studio – formed by Masters students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design – has partnered with youth group Sitio Eriazo to work on the project. Valparaiso, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was badly hit by the 8.3 magnitude quake which caused

Copenhagen Gate will be an elevated bike track and pedestrian bridge running between two skyscrapers and suspended a dizzying 65m (213ft) above the city’s harbour below. The specification for the bridge was laid down by the City of Copenhagen in a tender and won by US architect Steven Holl in 2008. Copenhagen Gate was put on hold during the recession, but has now been revived, with construction scheduled to start

The Shangri-La group will launch its first hotel in Saudi Arabia in early 2018, the Shangri-La Jeddah. The 65-storey building’s dramatic design, by global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will, received the MIPIM Architectural Review ‘Future Project Award’ for ‘Best Tall Building’ in 2009. Situated perpendicular to the shoreline to maximise water views and optimise solar exposure, its exterior ‘skin’ features synthetic fabric architectural sails that shade interior spaces, protect balconies

Health and wellness will be at the core of a groundbreaking billion-dollar urban development in Tampa, Florida. Real estate company Delos – which is collaborating on high profile wellness schemes with the likes of actor Leonardo DiCaprio – has masterminded the US$2bn (€1.8bn, £1.3bn) scheme, which will stretch to 40 acres. While the district will feature familiar hallmarks of a city – including an urban waterfront and 200,000sq ft (18,500sq

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have unveiled their masterplan for an urban neighbourhood in Pittsburgh on the site of a demolished hockey stadium. National Hockey League side the Pittsburgh Penguins left their Civic Arena home in 2012 and relocated to the Populous-designed Consol Energy Center. Their old ground was razed, but the franchise gained the rights to re-develop the site from the Sports and Exhibition Authority of Allegheny County (SEA). The

The chief executive of the Walt Disney Company has given his backing to the National Football League’s (NFL) Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers as they attempt to build a stadium in Los Angeles. Bob Iger has been appointed non-executive director of Carson Holdings – named after the district of LA where the mooted arena will be built – the development company set up by the two franchises. Manica Architecture

Mandarin Oriental is to manage a new luxury hotel and branded residences in Boca Raton, Florida, US, currently under development by Penn-Florida Companies and scheduled to open in late 2017. The hotel will include 158 bedrooms, a fitness centre, rooftop pool, and a spacious Spa at Mandarin Oriental, which will offer holistic rejuvenation and relaxation, though further details are still being determined. “We will of course have a magnificent spa,

The transformation of Pier 57, a derelict 1950s floating pier in New York City, into a mixed-use scheme has been declared “tantalisingly close to being realised”. Seth Pinsky, executive vice president at property firm RXR Realty, has revealed work will begin soon on the 450,000sq ft (41,000sq m) development on the Hudson River – recently rebranded the SuperPier. Speaking at a summit in NYC, Pinsky said the first two floors

A biblical theme park in the US state of Kentucky is building its very own full-size version of Noah’s Ark. Operator Crosswater Canyon, a non-profit subsidiary of Christian organisation Answers in Genesis, says that when it is finished, the ark will be the largest timber-framed structure in the US. The attraction will form the centrepiece of a new park called The Ark Encounter, telling the biblical story of the great

A new media library on Réunion Island brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘eye-opening’, with enormous socket-shaped openings staring out from the structure’s facade towards the Indian Ocean. French architects Peripheriques are the team behind the unorthodox structure, located in the island’s French commune St Paul. Irregularly placed gaps across the exterior are intended to resemble eyes seeking knowledge and information from the collection of films and literature

Hotel giant Hyatt is launching the Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa, a 201-bedroom property in Arizona, US, with mid-century, desert-inspired interiors. With stunning views of Camelback Mountain, the complex features interiors conceived by San Francisco-based EDG Interior Architecture + Design. Guestrooms and suites will be configured in bungalow-style clusters of six units, designed to provide guests an authentic and intimate desert resort experience. The design draws its inspiration from the

New York’s Parks and Recreation Department is embarking on a bold new public initiative to make the city’s parks more open, welcoming and beautiful. The Parks Without Borders scheme has received US$50m (€46.8m, £32.8m) from the city’s mayor to improve green spaces and better connect local communities. It has been launched as a public outreach campaign which allows citizens to vote for the parks they feel would most benefit from

Diners at a newly-opened restaurant in Beijing appear to hover above the ground as they eat on narrow ‘floating’ platforms surrounded by fog. Golucci International Design created the minimalist interiors for the Diaoye Niunan restaurant in the Chinese capital. The studio attempted to create a peaceful and relaxing environment for diners by referencing nature. Seating podiums resemble mountains emerging from the fog, chalk-white tree sculptures fill the space and the

We’ve had suggestions for a floating cycle highway along London's river Thames and and another in the sky. Now a quirky scheme has been proposed to enable people to travel around London with ease – a moving walkway following the city’s underground Tube train network. The concept, designed by architects at NBBJ, would reinvigorate urban mobility in the capital, which suffers from overcrowding during rush hour. The studio proposes replacing

Europe’s most prestigious architecture prize will today (17 November) be awarded to the Spanish designer Santiago Calatrava Valls. The European Prize for Architecture is presented annually to individuals who have “blazoned a new path and direction for an architecture that is deeply humane and committed to forward the principles of European humanism.” Calatrava – who is also a structural engineer, sculptor and painter – is famous for his artistic neo-futuristic

The Taiwanese city of Tainan will recapture its maritime past with the creation of a man-made lagoon on the site of a derelict and disused shopping mall. The large outdoor pool will be the central focus of a new green public space linking the city’s downtown with its historic canal network. The competition-winning design is the work of Dutch architects MVRDV, together with The Urbanist Collaborative and LLJ Architects. Tainan’s

A Spanish design studio has created a children’s playground with a mind-bending twist: it's set inside a kaleidoscope. The interiors of their hexagonal-shaped structure appear to constantly shift due to optical effects caused by reflections and movement. “Kaleidoscopes have been enjoyed by multiple generations,” said Juan Manzanares Suarez and Cristian Santandreu Utermark – the creative duo behind Spanish studio A2arquitectos. “We observed the optical effects of these toys and decided

Marriott International is buying its rival, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, for US$12.2bn (€11.4b, £8bn), creating the world’s largest hotel company, with 5,500 hotels and 1.1 million bedrooms worldwide across 30 brands. “The driving force behind this transaction is growth,” said Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International. “This is an opportunity to create value by combining the distribution and strengths of Marriott and Starwood, enhancing our competitiveness

Replacing the beloved 100-year old stadium of Atletico Bilbao – known in Spain as the “cathedral of football” – was quite a challenge for architect César Azcarate and engineering firm ACXT-IDOM. Their effort has been rewarded, however, after the 53,000-capacity San Mames arena was judged the world's best new sports building at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore. “One of our biggest challenges was maintaining the intense and magical football

Five studios have been shortlisted to design a major extension to Manchester’s Hallé St Peter’s music venue; adding extra rehearsal, performance and education space to the Grade II listed former church building in the UK. Caruso St John; Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios; Flanagan Lawrence; Jamie Fobert Architects’ and Stephenson Studio beat off competition from 37 other firms across the UK and Europe in the RIBA-organised contest. The extension will be

The worlds of art and architecture are collaborating in the Danish city of Aarhus, where an ambitious expansion of the city’s modern art museum is underway. Danish studio schmidt hammer lassen architects are working with acclaimed American artist James Turrell to extend the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum; a project which is intended to propel it “into the the world elite museums". The €30m (US$32.3m, £21.2m) expansion - called ‘The Next

Spanish football giant Real Madrid has selected a modern and minimalist design for its new corporate headquarters in the Spanish capital. Architects Rafael de La-Hoz have visualised a glass-fronted structure formed of two parallel cuboid volumes slid across each other. The studio says the structure, which resembles a pair of Tetris blocks, will create fluid interiors flooded with light. Views of the surrounding city and the club’s training grounds will

Another day, another exciting new development in London’s King’s Cross: a public park encased within an enormous Victorian gasholder frame. Gasholder No. 8 – the largest of the 25m-high cast-iron structures that once dominated the London landscape – was painstakingly dismantled, refurbished and then carefully rebuilt in a new home next to Regent’s Canal. Inside it sits a polished stainless steel canopy surrounding a wide area of green space. Bell

An Azerbaijani steakhouse inspired by the myths and legends of fire has opened in Baku’s JW Marriott Absheron. The Fireworks Urban Kitchen is the creation of Henry Chebaane’s Blue Sky Hospitality studio, which has partnered with the hotel on a number of large-scale interior design projects. “Our challenge was to create a steakhouse unlike any other in the world,” Chebaane told CLAD. “It had to be instantly recognisable with a

Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay – famous for its emerald waters and thousands of jungle-covered limestone karsts – is now home to a five-star private island resort, which guests can only reach by speedboat. Architects SRSS Singapore have designed the Vinpearl Ha Long Bay resort on the island of Dao Reu, which opened in late October. The neoclassical building contains 384 guest rooms and suites with private balconies overlooking the open