New Zealand practice Studio Pacific Architecture have developed alternative designs for a planned film museum in Wellington backed by Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson. The Movie Museum and Wellington Convention Center, which will cover more than 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) of prime waterfront land in the city’s central business district, will house memorabilia from the sets of Jackson’s movies and the creations of the acclaimed Weta Workshop.

One of the world’s most iconic cultural landmarks is set to be comprehensively revamped “and upgraded for the 21st Century”. The government of New South Wales, Australia has revealed working designs to update the Sydney Opera House as part of a AUS$202m scheme. The changes – which are the biggest in the building’s 43 year history – include an overhaul of the Concert Hall’s acoustics, accessibility, stage and backstage areas.

A proposal by architect Richard Murray to transform one of Edinburgh’s most beloved landmarks into a concert hall and music school seems likely to go ahead after planning officials threw their weight behind the scheme. The former home of the Royal High School on Calton Hill is a neoclassical listed building designed by architect Thomas Hamilton in the 1820s. The question of how best to preserve the site has proven

The Happy Valley theme park in Shanghai, China has opened a multimedia tower which transforms at night into the centrepiece of a dramatic 18 minute light show. The 32m (105ft) high tower – described by developer OCT Shanghai as “a symbol of modernity and an icon of contemporary culture” – is located in a tranquil central lake, where it leans skywards at an angle. When evening falls the tower is

A giant international hub for music and sound technology has opened in Calgary, Canada to house the country’s National Music Centre (NMC). Studio Bell, designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, is a vast street-crossing construction located in Calgary’s East Village. The 160,000sq ft (15,000sq m) building rises in nine interlocking towers clad in glazed terra cotta. It includes five floors of exhibition space showcasing over 2,000 artefacts and

The winners have been announced in an ideas competition to propose a new life for Philip Johnson’s famous New York State Pavilion in Queens. The iconic structure – which includes two observation towers and a large elliptical Tent of Tomorrow – was built at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park for the 1964-65 World Fair. However, in the last few decades it has fallen into disrepair. Despite this, the pavilion remains a significant

New renderings have been released of Peter Zumthor’s proposed redevelopment of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) ahead of a public consultation meeting on 24 August. The images visualise eight semi-transparent pavilions supporting an elevated, organically-shaped main exhibition level. The Pritzker Prize winning architect’s design will replace four of the museum’s deteriorating structures to house LACMA’s permanent collection of historic and contemporary art. Demolition of older buildings means

Architect David Adjaye has told CLAD that the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington is “one of the defining projects” of his career to date. The landmark museum – which has been developed over a decade – is due to be opened by US President Barack Obama on the 24 September 2016. Adjaye’s practice Adjaye Associates worked with architecture studios Freelon Group and David Brody Bond

US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have reportedly chosen Chicago's historic Jackson Park as the site for their Obama Presidential Center. Media reports in the city claim the historic park has been chosen ahead of fellow South Side location Washington Park. Official confirmation is expected next week. Once the announcement is made, preparation work will begin ahead of the start of construction next year. Earlier this month,

A host of eco-friendly leisure projects have been recognised in the 2016 Green Good Design Awards, handed out by Chicago’s Museum of Architecture and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design. The awards – founded by Eero Saarinen, Edgar Kaufmann Jr and Charles and Ray Eames in 1950 – celebrate the best new projects around the world that have responded to the needs for energy conservation, reducing toxic waste and

A 75,000sq ft (7,000sq m) rainforest will be situated halfway up a tower in the Hilton Worldwide hotel in Dubai as part of a "never before seen" entertainment experience created by ZAS Architects. In an exclusive interview with CLAD, principal DJ Armin said the firm is using innovative digital technology, advanced architectural practices and biophilic design to create an indoor/outdoor leisure experience that “can work successfully through all four seasons

Images released today (27 July) have given a first proper look at how the cultural attractions planned for London’s Stratford Waterfront are set to look. Architecture studios Allies and Morrison, O’Donnell + Tuomey and Arquitecturia are designing a series of new facilities for the waterfront in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of the Olympicopolis cultural and educational development. The new renderings reveal how the following three venues are

The first venue within Hong Kong’s emerging West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) has been completed on time and on budget. The M+ Pavilion is a flexible small-scale arts space created by a trio of young local designers. The site is designed as an accompaniment to Herzog and de Meuron’s forthcoming M+ building – a new home for Hong Kong’s museum for visual culture, art, design and architecture. The new pavilion

Interior designer Reinhard Strasser has created a new Alpine retreat in the Austrian mountains, featuring a high-altitude hypoxic chamber which can be used by professional athletes. The hotel, called Blumen Haus Lech, will launch in the village of Lech in December 2016. It is being funded by British businessman Andrew Flowers, who wants to “raise the bar for boutique hotels in Austria” and offer a luxury stopover for skiers in

Long-running plans to build a permanent home for the Universal Hip-Hop Museum (UHHM) in the US have moved a step closer to reality, after architects BrandNu Design unveiled renderings showing what the project could look like. A disused courthouse in The Bronx, New York, has been proposed as the site of the museum – the first time a specific building has been suggested. BrandNu’s proposal for the 38,000sq ft (3,500sq

Studio MMK, who have offices in the US and South Korea, will design a music-led cultural complex on an island in Seoul after winning an international architecture competition for the project. ‘Nodeul Dream Island’ will be one of the firm’s first built projects. Located on the Han River, the island will host concerts, festivals, exhibitions and other cultural events. The Seoul Metropolitan Government had invited architects, landscape architects and urban

Tourism officials have launched an art installation on the hills of Snowdonia, with giant mirrored letters spelling out the word ‘EPIC’ as part of a campaign to promote Wales as the home of great adventures. Designed by Cardiff-based design firm Wild Creations, the four-metre-tall (13.1 foot) lettering has appeared in Pen y Gwryd in North West Wales and was commissioned by VisitWales as part of its Year of Adventure Campaign.

The 2016 Archikids Festival begins in London this weekend with a host of free activities planned to engage children with architecture, engineering and design. Children aged 5-11 and their families are invited to tour some of the capital's iconic buildings, including the Gherkin by Norman Foster, and take part in a series of architecture challenges between 10am-5pm BST on both days. Tasks include experimenting with different materials and shapes to

Dramatic new drone footage has been released to showcase the architectural features of Herzog and de Meuron’s hotly-awaited Elbe Philharmonic building in Hamburg, Germany. The shimmering complex will house three concert halls, a Starwood Westin hotel and spa, 45 private apartments and an indoor public plaza when it officially opens on 11 January 2017. To whet appetites for the curtain-raising, a new website has been set up taking viewers on

The rebuilding of a disused ice rink in Schierke, Germany has officially started, with architecture studio GRAFT transforming the site into a multi-use sports arena with a unique roof structure. The Nature Rink, located at the foot of the snow-topped Harz Mountains, is one of the country’s oldest natural ice stadiums. It is being renovated at a cost of more than €7m (US$7.7m, £5.8m) enabling it to host ice sports

Unesco has included a new addition to its World Heritage list for 2016, adding 17 sites across three continents, to recognise the work of Swiss architect Le Corbusier. Of the 21 new additions to Unesco’s list of more than 1,000, The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement is perhaps the most unique as it covers seven countries – Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan

The transformation of Governors Island in New York into a landscaped tourist destination is complete, with ten acres of new public realm by Dutch architects West 8 opening today (19 July). The studio have created four hills, rising high above the island to offer a 360-degree panoramic experience of the city’s harbour. Formerly a military base located a short ferry ride from Manhattan and Brooklyn, the site is now an

Two international architecture competitions have been launched to design a pair of major arts facilities for one of the biggest districts in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. The district government of Bao’an has fired the starting gun on the contests to create both a Public Culture and Arts Center and a new library and concert hall. The former is a new build project which will house a museum, art gallery

Plans to build “the world’s first underground park” in New York have taken a major step forward with the city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYEDC) approving the project. The US$60m (€53.6m, £44.8m) Lowline scheme, designed by James Ramsey of Raad Studio, will see the transformation of an abandoned underground trolley terminal in Manhattan's Lower East Side into a community-oriented public and cultural space. Solar technology will directly deliver sunlight underground, lighting

Two leisure projects have made the shortlist for the prestigious 2016 Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building, which was announced today (14 July). Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall by Caruso St John and Weston Library in Oxford by WilkinsonEyre are among six projects in the running for the UK’s highest accolade for architecture. The winner will be announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on 6

Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos and Llama Urban Design have been declared winners of an international design competition to expand the Lima Art Museum in Peru. The studios will develop a new public plaza and extension to the museum, including new galleries for its permanent collection, a library for 40,000 books, classrooms, a café and workshop spaces. The competition jury received 387 entries from 56 countries, which was whittled down to

Game of Thrones creator George R R Martin has partnered with a design company and arts and entertainment production studio to create an explorable attraction in Santa Fe, US. The House of Eternal Return is a 20,000sq ft (1,800sq m) space filled with fantastical environments, technology and art. Billed as “a unique combination of children’s museum, art gallery, jungle gym, and fantasy novel”, visitors are invited to walk, climb and