A design contest launched to rival the controversial Guggenheim project in Helsinki, Finland, has received more than 200 entries from 37 countries. Set up by a group led by architect Michael Sorkin, The Next Helsinki competition is a protest against the City of Helsinki’s decision to allow a $153m (€146m, £105m) Guggenheim museum to be built in the South Harbor area. Instead of allocating space to a “foreign-owned museum chain”,

The Sports and Leisure Working Party Group of the International Union of Architects (UIA) has announced it will examine the legacies of the most recent Olympic Games – London 2012 – and most recent Commonwealth Games – Glasgow 2014 – at a seminar and site visit to be held in London on 12 and 13 June. The venue will be the office of Space Syntax. The group will also tour the Olympic

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has unveiled plans to open an eco-resort on his private island in Belize in partnership with New York-based real estate firm Delos, designed by lead architect Jason McLennan of McLennan Design. Dubbed ‘Blackadore Caye, a Restorative Island’, the environmentally friendly project will offer 68 villas spread across its 104 acres (42 hectares) when it launches in 2018. Speaking to The New York Times, DiCaprio said it had

Foster + Partners have designed a 50-storey tower set to grace London’s skyline. Principal Tower will be part of Principal Place, a mixed-use development to feature a half acre public piazza and events space, bars, cafes, restaurants, shops and offices. Sited near Shoreditch, Liverpool Street Station, major financial institutions and Silicon Roundabout, Principal Place will be developed by Brookfield, Concord Pacific and W1 Developments in a joint venture. Foster +

US-based National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise Milwaukee Bucks has revealed detailed plans for the development of a new sports and entertainment district in Milwaukee. The Bucks are hoping to establish a 60,000sq ft “live entertainment block” – anchored by a 17,000-seat indoor arena – to rejuvenate the city’s Park East corridor. The total cost of the project is expected to reach US$1bn (€942m, £682m). The design team for the project

Work is now underway on Snøhetta’s new kitchen extension and garden redesign for the world-renowned restaurant The French Laundry, in Yountville, California. Due to complete in June of this year, the new buildings will transform both the visitor and cooking experience of the three Michelin star restaurant in Napa Valley. The restaurant, which was founded in 1994 by American chef Thomas Keller and named after one of the building’s former

Online private rental portal Airbnb has struck a deal with Rio 2016 organisers which will see residents of the city provide up to 20,000 additional accommodation options for foreign Olympic guests. Rio 2016 organisers have admitted that while a construction programme of new hotels in the city has increased capacity enough to host the 40,000-strong “Olympic family” – ie, representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee and

The One World Observatory at New York’s One World Trade Center building will open its doors to the public at the end of May, with tickets now on sale, enabling the public to visit the top of the western hemisphere’s tallest skyscraper. The building, which is largely office space, welcomed its first tenants – Condé Nast – in November 2014, 13 years after the 9/11 terror attacks. The tower, designed by

Plans for a development in Egypt, which were derailed by the Revolution in 2011, are back on track according to one of the key players behind the US$1.1bn (€1bn, £738m) safari, theme park and hotel development near Cairo. A consortium made up of Egypt-based 300 Years History, Canada’s Maple Leaf, South Africa’s Glen Afric, Italian Pinfari and Chipperfield Companies Group, is behind the proposal, which has been submitted to the

Global toy retailer Hamleys has taken the first step to becoming an experience brand after opening a mini theme park in its new Moscow store – also the largest toy shop in Europe. The new retail concept was developed by design studios Fitch and Paragon Creative within Moscow's Detsky Mir building. Hamleys Moscow offers shoppers and visitors nine “worlds of play”, including Enchanted Forest, Imagination, Lego World, Magic Kingdom, Metropolis,

A 2034 development masterplan for Mumbai, India, has come under fire after proposing to remove 70 per cent of the currently heritage-listed sites in the city, while incorrectly labelling others. Of the 1,488 listed heritage buildings, sites and precincts in the city, 1,000 will be removed under the new guidelines unveiled by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. According to the contentious Mumbai Development Plan - 2034, the listed Jehangir Art Gallery

New York City’s Dryline – a proposed flood barrier around Lower Manhatten by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), is to be the subject of a webinar on Friday 12 June. In addition to protecting the city from high water, the Dryline will include greenspace and leisure amenities. The webinar will be led by BIG's Jeremy Alain Siegel and will involve the Rebuild by Design team, which worked alongside BIG in conceiving

Robin Snell and Partners is to transform the largest theatre in London’s West End as part of a £1.2m ($1.77m, €1.65m) renovation project. The company won a competition run by the English National Opera (ENO) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for the revitalisation of the ground floor foyer of the grade II* listed London Coliseum. The foyer will be opened up to provide uninterrupted views from the

An ‘imagination playground’ is being built in New Orleans to inspire children to get into architecture through play. Not-for-profit organisation PlayBuild’s goal is to transform under-utilised urban spaces into fun environments for 4-12-year-olds to think and learn about architecture, design and city planning. Set up two years ago, PlayBuild has so far organised a number of outdoor play sessions for local schools, but has now broken ground on a permanent

Donald Trump is progressing with long-delayed proposals to expand his hotel and leisure development at Menie Estate, Aberdeenshire, UK, with new construction planned alongside the five-star Trump International Golf Links. Trump has submitted new planning applications, which cite Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) at the project's designers. The new plans include the construction of hundreds of houses and nearly 2,000 holiday homes and lodges, in a major step towards completing

The multi-million restoration of the Italian Excelsior Hotel Gallia, a Luxury Collection Hotel, will be complete in Q2 of 2015 with its launch to coincide with the Expo Milano 2015. Owned by Katara Hospitality and operated by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the historic hotel first opened in 1932 as Palace Gallia in the Porta Nuova area of Milan. It is being revamped by Milan-based Studio Marco Piva, which has blended

Australian property developer, Lang Walker, is planning to develop his first resort, on the island of Fiji. The Kokomo Yaukuve Island Resort on Yaukuve Island, which is part of the Kadavu Island Group - surrounded by the world famous Great Astrolabe Reef - will open in 2016. The resort will have five villas and 21 bures on the beachfront, in addition to a luxury day spa, kids club, tennis court,

An urban skyscraper divided into 11 natural landscapes has been recognised as the most outstanding new concept for high-rise living in an annual competition. Polish architecture firm BOMP – whose partners are Konrad Basan, Ewa Odyjas, Agnieszka Morga and Jakub Pudo – took first place in the 2015 Skyscraper Competition, organised by eVolo Magazine. Recreation and leisure ranked high on the agenda in many of the winning entrants’ designs. BOMP’s

Gesellschaft von Architekten (Graft) have revealed their final designs for Apassionata – a horse theme and adventure park being built in Munich, Germany. The competition-winning proposal will see a 12-acre hub for leisure and entertainment incorporating adventure, nature and architecture, with 12 themed pavilions anchored by a central structure known as the show palace. The pavilions – which are made primarily of wood – will house an array of activities,

Construction work has begun on Oriam, Scotland’s new £33m Sports Performance Centre, which is located at the Riccarton Campus at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. The facility, designed by Reiach and Hall Architects, will become the new training base for Scotland’s elite athletes and will support the high performance needs for football, rugby and volleyball while offering additional dedicated support to athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, fencing, handball, hockey, netball, shinty and

Pollutant-absorbing pavements and ambient lighting will turn a Barcelona bridge into a green urban plaza. Spanish architecture firm BCQ is upgrading the Sarajevo Bridge in the Catalan capital as part of a strategy to turn it into an attractive gateway to the city. The new pavement will use a photocatalytic concrete surface, a self-cleaning material that absorbs air pollutants, converting them into harmless substances. Applied to white or grey cement,

Alila Hotels and Resorts will launch its second luxury resort development in Oman in Mirbat, east of Salalah – a coastal town in the Dhofar governorate. The interior design by BLINK Design Group will include contemporary Dhofari architecture. The project, owned by Alil Salalah – a subsidiary of the Oman Investment Fund – will open in the second half of 2017 comprising 100 bedrooms, 25 villas, fine dining restaurants and

The Houston Astrodome, could be saved and turned into a multi-use leisure facility, following the publication of a new report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The ULI report was complied by a panel of experts from the fields of architecture, urban planning and land use. Suggestions include a ground-level open space that could host an array of activities including an adventure park, indoor track, zip lines and mountain bike

The Ace Hotel in London has changed hands for £150m (US$222m, €205m). The 258-bed Shoreditch hotel, which includes the Miranda nightclub and Hoi Polloi restaurant, has been sold by Starwood Capital Group to Limulus, but will still be managed by Ace Hotel Group. The hotel started life as a Crowne Plaza, built on the site of the Shoreditch Empire music hall. It opened as the Ace in October 2013 following

Young architects and students are being invited to design a public watersports facility for a popular tourist destination in Macedonia. Budding architects can compete for their design to be used for a new sports and entertainment centre at Lake Ohrid on the west side Macedonia. The competition is calling on entrants to draw inspiration from the history, natural landscape and culture of the area. The lake is encircled by beaches,

New York’s Times Square is ready to go wild after a campaign to bring a temporary forest to the urban jungle surpassed its crowdfunding goal. Ecologist Marielle Anzelone wants to create an immersive natural experience in what she describes as "the most unnatural place on the planet", by bringing the installation of grasses, trees, ferns, and wildflowers to a public plaza in the world-famous area of Manhattan. PopUP Forest: Times

Wyndham Hotel Group is building a Planet Hollywood luxury resort called ph Premiere Hotel & Spa Orlando, minutes away from Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. New York-based developer Azzurra Development has released early details of the project, which has been designed by Arquitectonica and Meyer Davis Studio. The resort will house 436 bedrooms, a 35,000sq ft (3,252sq m) sandy beach pool deck with cabanas, a lakeside pavilion for water