After four years of construction, the House of Music, in Aalberg, Denmark, was opened this spring by the Danish Queen, Margrethe II. The centre, which was designed by Viennese architectural practice Coop Himmelb(l)au, is a combined concert hall and school. It features a 1,300 seat concert hall with rehearsal and training rooms arranged around it and a five storey-high foyer which acts as a meeting place for students, teachers and

Nike has unveiled the world's first LED basketball court in Shanghai, China, a facility that has been created for basketball star Kobe Bryant to help train young players in Shanghai as part of Nike’s RISE campaign. The court – dubbed the ‘House of Mamba’ – features all over LED flooring; bringing graphics, video and real-time player tracking to training. Using motion sensors to enable tracking and interactive visualisations, players will

The Palace Museum – housed in Beijing’s, Forbidden City – is to set up an architectural institute equipped for research, training and restoration on China’s ancient architecture. The new unit will operate as a scientific base and will be devoted to multiple fields, with training including the inheritance and development of traditional architectural skills, the adoption of modern technologies in relation to ancient architecture and the training of professionals for

Sydney, Australia, is seeing returns on the commitment it’s made to public art in recent years, announcing details of three prestigious works to launch the City Centre Public Art Plan. The works will be produced by Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, British artist Tracey Emin and Australian artist Hany Armanious. The AU$9m ($8.4m, £5m, €6.3m) initiative tops off Sydney’s regeneration programme, central to which is the new light rail project and

Long-held plans for the creation of the £315m (US$525m, €392m) Circuit of Wales racetrack have been boosted after its backers signed a five-year deal to host motorcycling’s British MotoGP event at the venue. The track, which is yet to be constructed, will become a purpose-built hub for the British motorsport industry, catering for major events, while also developing into a centre for motorsport-related industries. The deal with commercial rights owner

The RIBA and Bristol City Council have announced the launch of a competition to find an architect for ‘Bristol Arena’; a new 12,000 capacity, multi-use indoor entertainment space in the south west UK city. The site, located on a former diesel depot next to Temple Meads railway station, is currently owned by The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and is set to become part of a wider development, called Arena

Burgeoning development in Birmingham is to continue after the city’s council approved design plans for the first phase of the £400m (US$673m, €504m) Arena Central project. The wider-scale development has been in limbo for almost 15 years because of planning disputes and the onset of the recession, however the first phase will now see the creation of an office block with shops and a small park. As the project develops,

A number of leisure opportunities could be up for grabs after Glasgow City Council revealed that 93 separate areas of land around the Buchanan Galleries shopping district may have to be compulsorily purchased as part of a planned expansion. The list of compulsory purchase orders is now due to be sent to Scottish Ministers for approval, with the council stating that it requires the land to push ahead with significant

Latin America is poised to become a major market for the attractions industry in the coming decade, with recent football World Cup host Brazil a particularly promising market, according to Forrec senior creative Gordon Grice. During a wide-ranging briefing at Attractions Management headquarters, the industry veteran with over 25 years’ experience expressed excitement over the emerging market, which although still very young, has the potential to develop at pace. “Right

With a budget of £215m ($361m, €270m), one might expect Tate Modern’s high-profile extension to be carried out to schedule and without incident. But a re-shuffle at the upper echelons of the project’s management, topped off with an admission that the budget will need to be revised, has raised questions from one of the UK’s Labour MPs. “There’s £50m ($84m, €63m) of taxpayers’ money in this project which is late

A new museum celebrating country music, built in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, has opened on the border between Tennessee and Virginia in the south of the US. Designed by Peyton Boyd Architects, the US$11m (€8.2m, £6.5m) Birthplace of Country Music Museum, which opens today (8 August) in Bristol, VA, has been in the pipeline for several years. The 24,000sq ft (2,229sq m) museum will feature several different

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) has won planning permission for a 50-storey mixed-use skyscraper in London. Nicknamed the ‘Jenga’ tower, the 170m (558ft) structure will have higher storeys that are stacked on top of each other in a cantilevered fashion; giving the illusion of a game of Jenga. KPF’s tower will contain 450 flats, office space, retail space, a gym, cinema, plus winter garden and will have approximately 60,400sq m

Hip boutique hotel chain Ace Hotels has launched its latest property in Los Angeles’ historic United Artists building. Originally designed by architect Howard Crane for the United Artists film studio, the 18-storey building opened in 1927 and was used as a movie theatre until 1974. Atelier Ace worked with Commune Design to restore the United Artists building and theatre. The exterior façade was stripped, cleaned and restored, ‘as it would

The new home for the Aspen Art Museum (AAM) is now complete, and ready to open to the public on Saturday 9 August. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Shigeru Ban, the 33,000sq ft (10,058sq m) museum and gallery is the new home for the Aspen Art Museum, which had outgrown its old place of residence. As Ban’s first permanent museum in America, the backdrop of the building is the

A final approval is expected later this year for proposals to build a new 14,000-capacity multi-use arena in Tampere, Finland. The planned Tampere Central Arena will be the new home for the city’s two professional ice hockey teams – Ilves and Tappara – and the flexible design will also allow the venue to host other sporting events as well as concerts and exhibitions. It is expected that the €124m (US$166m,

The French government has announced that it will pledge €200m ($267m, £160m) for urgent repairs and restoration to the iconic La Défense Grande Arche, located in Paris’s financial district. Inaugurated on Bastille Day in 1989, the 20th century answer to the Arc de Triomphe was mastermind by Danish architect Johann Otto von Spreckelsen and completed by French architect Paul Andreu. Standing at 110m (360.8 ft) high, 110m wide and 110m

A shortlist of architects has now been established for the Green Square Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. The centre will form part of the commercial, retail and cultural heart of the AU$8bn (US$7.5bn, €5.6bn, £4.4bn) greater Green Square redevelopment – one of the largest ever urban renewal project in Australian history. The five finalists are all from Sydney – Andrew Burns; Cullinan Ivanov Partnership; CHROFI & McGregor Coxall; Andrew Burges

From a shortlist of six architectural practices, Goldsmiths College, London, has announced that Assemble - a London based architecture collective - will be designing their new £1.8m ($3.1m, €2.2m) gallery in South East London. Housed in Grade II listed swimming baths, Assemble’s design for the gallery will incorporate the original black steel water tanks as part of the new exhibition space, while creating new gallery spaces tacked onto the outside

To commemorate the centenary of the First World War, a monumental pillar of light was shot into the air last night, eerily hung amongst London’s famous skyline. Together with the nation's Lights Out initiative, which saw households and businesses across the UK extinguishing all but one of their lights at 10pm last night (4th August), acclaimed artist Ryoji Ikeda’s latest installation lit up a corner of Westminster and spread 15km

Nestled in the fjords near Tromsø, Norway, plans have been unveiled for a rare floating hotel – in the shape of a giant snowflake. The floating ice crystal, known as the Krystall Hotel, will be rooted to the ground by an underwater concrete pillar. The aim of the structure is to be as self-sustaining as possible and have minimal impact on the environment, whilst offering an experience of 5-star luxury.

Bjarke Ingles Group (BIG) has been commissioned to design a new form of enclosure at Givskud Zoo, Denmark – Zootopia. Zootopia is based on the concept of man and nature becoming one; it is a hybrid of a traditional zoo and a safari, which will be split into four different sections, three of which will be themed around the continents of Africa, Asia and the Americas, with a central plaza

Foster + Partners (F+P), working in conjunction with local Heller Manus Architects (HMA), has submitted plans for two skyscrapers in San Francisco’s financial district. The mixed-use development covers approximately 185,806sq m (2,000,000sq ft). Of the two towers to be constructed, the taller, standing at 260m (853ft) high, will feature housing, offices and a hotel; whereas, the smaller building, 185m (605 ft) will be purely residential. Lord Foster of F+P commented:

A large part of Eastbourne Pier was reduced to a burned out shell yesterday (30 July) after a blazing inferno tore through the Grade II-listed structure, destroying a significant amount of the visitor attraction. More than 60 firefighters tackled the fire, which is believed to have broken out in the 144-year old pier’s arcade building. Crews from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from Eastbourne, Hastings and Newhaven were also

Mocked up for his project called ‘The Art of Diving,' Bulgarian-based designer Kristian Terziev has designed a new diving centre-cum-public space to showcase diving to the world. The centre, which would be located in the Bulgarian coastal city of Tsarevo, is space to reflect on the themes of water sports whilst being in close proximity to the ocean. As a working diving centre, the project allows divers to benefit from

Plans have been submitted for a £3.5bn ($5.9bn, €4.4bn) development in east London, to include an “innovation quarter” – allowing high-profile firms to showcase and engage with consumers through a range of bespoke education and entertainment space. Master planned by architectural firm Fletcher Priest, the development also includes 3,000 new homes, as well as a new landmark bridge connecting Silvertown Quays with the new Crossrail station at Custom House. It

A 760m (2,493 ft) long pedestrian walkway leading to the historic island of Mont Saint Michel - which boasts a castle, commune and abbey - was opened to the public on 22 July. Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes, an Austria-based practice, has designed the jetty to replace the 135-year-old structure that was there before. After nine years of research and three years of construction, the finished article is finally ready to be

George Lucas’ legacy project – the US$300m (€220m, £179m) Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (LMNA) – has revealed that Beijing-based MAD Architects has been selected as principal designer for the project, while Chicago-based Studio Gang will work on the landscape. In addition, VOA Associates, based in Chicago, will serve as the executive architect and lead the implementation of MAD’s design. Pending approval by the Chicago Plan Commission, Lucas' 95,000sq ft