Safdie Architects have unveiled plans for South Carolina’s National Medal of Honor Museum – a five-point design presenting the history of the US’s most decorated and revered soldiers. The new museum and education centre coming to the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, has been budgeted at US$98m (€87.8m, £63.9m) and is intended to recognise and remember the recipients of the country’s highest military honour, also teaching

The tender for the design of a hotel that will be linked to Amsterdam RAI exhibition and convention centre in the South Axis district of Amsterdam has been awarded to OMA – the architectural practice founded by Rem Koolhaas. A total of 11 design firms were competing for the project but OMA won the contract due to its vision for additional special features. Not only will the 91m (300ft) tower

Disney has revealed new details for the ¥500bn (US$4.5bn, €3.6bn, £2.8bn) 10-year expansion of its Tokyo resorts, confirming plans for a Frozen makeover at DisneySea and the redevelopment of Fantasyland at Disneyland. The new Scandinavia area of Tokyo DisneySea will be themed towards the world region, also featuring a Frozen area, which will include a replica of the castle seen in the hit film. The rest of Scandinavia will use

Starwood has announced it will significantly expand its portfolio in the Middle East, as part of an US$8bn (E7.1bn £5.3bn) global growth plan, with new openings already underway in the region. Speaking at the opening of the new Sheraton Grand Hotel Dubai, Michael Wale, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Europe, Africa and the Middle East said: “The Sheraton Grand Hotel Dubai highlights our commitment both to the region and

FRHI Hotels & Resorts has signed agreements with developer Citystars Properties to brand and operate two new hotel projects in Egypt, in addition to the three hotels planned at the separate Sharm El Sheikh development. The two new projects include Fairmont Soma Bay, south of Hurghada on the eastern shores of Egypt on the Red Sea coast, and a Swissôtel in Katameya in Cairo. Both are scheduled to open before

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas is set to unveil its first resort in Europe on 15 July in 10 hectares (22 acres) of the Portuguese UNESCO World Heritage Site of Douro Valley. Designed by New York-based Clodagh, the 57-bedroom 19th century property features an interior palette of light greys and sandy tones. Using eco-friendly materials, Clodagh – owner and founder of Clodagh Design – has blended nature, Portuguese tradition, water,

A competition has been launched by M-Arch for the creation of a concept for a new leisure building at London’s Shoreditch Overground train station. M-Arch says the design can be for any type of commercial and flexible leisure space, from a small set of units for single merchants to a big, open space. The aim is to provide a collective space for the growth of the local community. Entrants can

Italian football club AC Milan has unveiled further details of its new stadium, which the club has described as “the most innovative in the world”. Located in the Portello area of the city, the stadium has been designed by sports architects at Arup and will have a capacity of 48,000 – half the size of its current San Siro stadium. The club says the design team lead by Arup studied

Architect Miguel Saraiva of Saraiva+Associados and interior designer Nini Andrade Silva have completed a renovation of The Furnas Boutique Hotel & Thermal Spa on Sao Miguel Island in the Azores archipelago off the coast of Portugal. Operated by Discovery Hotel Management and a member of the international Design Hotels chain, the 55-key property now features a spa that comprises a thermal pool, fitness centre, 10 treatment rooms, whirlpools, flotation beds,

A fire has more or less completely destroyed a popular science centre in Hellerup near Copenhagen, Denmark. The town’s Experimentarium – which was undergoing a DKR339m (US$49.5m, €45.4m, £32.4m) redevelopment – was gutted by fire on 27 April, the exact cause has yet to be determined. The expansion would have added a roof exhibition area, new classrooms, a training and education centre, conference centre, café and solar panels. Ejendomsselskabet was

India is “not ready” to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee. Bach – speaking after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – dismissed chances of an Indian bid being successful in the near future, ending rumours that the country would seek to host the 2024 Games. A number of Indian media had been speculating that either New Delhi

An international team of architecture students led by the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is to build a 50m (164ft) ice bridge as the centrepiece for a winter exhibition of architecture in Finland in 2016. Expected to attract thousands of visitors, the bridge is based on a design by Leonardo da Vinci and will be the longest open span bridge ever built from ice. The universities of Leuven, Aalto (Helsinki),

Singaporean investor GJS Group has opened new facilities at the 105-key Loama Resort Maldives at Maamigili. Spa consultant Barry Warrington of IS Wellness and designer Mikael Tay of Singapore-based The Monocot Studio created four beach spa villas and four over-water villas that face southwest, so guests can enjoy the sunset. There is also a new 496sq m (5,339sq ft) spa with treatment rooms extending on a jetty over the sea.

Investor Zaozhuang Thai Cultural City Development has announced it will open the Dusit Thani Thai Cultural City Resort Zaozhuang in China’s Shandong province in early 2018. The hotel and resort development will contain 257 bedrooms and will be Thai-focused in design. It will include a substantial destination wellness centre. Part of a mixed-use commercial complex, the resort will offer Thai retail brands, cultural performances and tours at the Buddhist cultural

The Renzo Piano-designed Whitney Museum of American Art in New York’s Meatpacking District will open to the public this Friday (1 May), offering indoor and outdoor galleries, a conservation laboratory and the largest column-free exhibition space in the entire city. In the works for more than three decades, the nine-storey steel and concrete building was conceived as a ‘laboratory for artists’. Sitting between the High Line and Hudson River, the

Qatar 2022 World Cup officials have revealed plans for the fifth 2022 World Cup venue – the Al Rayyan stadium. The 40,000-capacity Al Rayyan will be located on the site of the existing Ahmed bin Ali Stadium – a 25,000-seat venue built in 2003 – with the old structure being demolished to make way for the new. Designed by a team including US-based masterplanners AECOM, Danish engineers Ramboll and UK

Colorado-based architectural firm Fentress have revealed final plans for the US$150m (€138m, £99m) renovation and expansion of Cleveland’s Museum of Natural History after gaining approval from the museum’s board of trustees. The plan, which aims to better integrate nature and science into exhibitions, is soon to enter the US$20m (€18m, £13.2m) first phase and will increase the museum's space to 200,000sq ft (18,500sq m), up from 68,000sq ft (6,300sq ft).

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's original entrance to the world's first underwater tunnel is to be turned into a cultural venue for music performances, theatre and events. The 65ft (19.8m) deep entrance shaft to the Thames Tunnel, in Rotherhithe, London, was the first project the famous engineer worked on. Architectural practice Tate Harmer has now designed a freestanding cantilevered staircase that will provide public access to the circular ‘sinking shaft’ for the

Health and wellness expert Henri Chenot will open the second ‘Espace Cure’ hotel – a destination retreat – to have its entire structure dedicated to his health and wellness programmes. This second hotel, which is set to open in Q2 2016, will be designed by international architect and interior designer Michel Jouannet and located in Gabala, Azerbaijan. The first of these ‘Espace Cure’-structured hotels, which opened in 1980, is Chenot’s

Merlin Entertainments – which is already building a Legoland theme park as part of the Dubai Parks and Resorts development in the UAE – has announced that the AED10bn (US$2.7bn, €2.5bn, £1.8bn) mega-development will also include a Lego waterpark. Lego is the number one global brand in 2015. The new Lego waterpark will include a wave pool, a Build-A-Raft River and Imagination Station – where guests can construct Lego bridges,

Carson City Council (CCC) in Los Angeles County, California, US has unanimously approved plans to build the US$1.86bn (€1.68bn, £1.24bn) Carson Stadium to host two National Football League (NFL) franchises – the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. CCC is the second local authority to have given a green light to an NFL stadium in Los Angeles, following a rival plan by billionaire Stan Kroenke to relocate his St Louis

EPR Architects are working to design the hotel and spa at the upcoming Poultry Hotel in London. The five-star offering will occupy the Grade I-listed former Midland Bank headquarters – the vault of which was portrayed as Fort Knox for the climax of the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Scheduled to open in 2016, the hotel is set to feature 252 bedrooms, a restaurant, health and leisure facilities, rooftop terraces

An Australian national park could be designed by primary school pupils using the video game Minecraft. The government of South Australia has launched a competition asking students to create their perfect national park using the popular game, or to suggest changes to an existing state park. Minecraft allows players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D pixelated world. With AU$8.9m ($6.9m, €6.4m, £4.6m) set aside for park

Architecture practice Studio Octopi’s dream of sparking a “swimming revolution” by creating a floating freshwater pool in London’s River Thames has today (23 April) become the subject of an ambitious crowdfunding campaign. The Thames Baths project – which has won high-profile backing from figures including artist Tracey Emin and London mayor Boris Johnson – was last month incorporated as a CIC (Community Interest Company), meaning the public space will be

Andrea DuBois and Mary Lynn Mellinger of global spa consultancy and management firm WTS International (WTS) are among the first interior designers in the world to begin an accredited training programme with the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). The IWBI is a public benefit corporation whose mission is to improve human health and wellbeing through the built environment. Its WELL Building Standard is a set of 102 performance metrics, design

A twisted loop hotel inspired by the ecological structure of plankton has been designed by architects Planning Korea and will be ready in time to host visitors to the 2018 Winter Olympics. Located in Gangneung, on the east coast of South Korea, the beachfront resort hotel is situated about three miles (5km) from Olympic stadiums and facilities in PyeongChang. Seoul-based Planning Korea’s design takes an infinity symbol form and features

Shanghai Natural History Museum has moved into its new home – a nautilus-shaped building inspired by the biological structure of cells, the elements and natural phenomena. Designed by Perkins + Will, the green structure mimics architectural themes found in nature. The main area of the 479,000sq ft (44,500sq m) exhibition space rises from the site’s foundations, spiralling upwards like a shell. Within the structure, light is dispersed through a lattice