Hard Rock International has revealed its plans to build a 372-room music-themed hotel in Berlin adjacent to Checkpoint Charlie and displaying a section of the Berlin Wall. According to project partner the Trockland Development Group, the hotel will form part of a 2.5 acre multi-use project commemorating the history and symbolism of the checkpoint; which was the best known crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.

The founder of Australia’s (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania, has unveiled a host of planned leisure projects for the institution; including a 160-room art hotel, a casino and a collaboration with famous artist James Turrell. In a blog post titled Stuff We are Planning to Do, posted on the museum’s website, MONA founder David Walsh revealed several ambitious projects involving individuals from the worlds of art, architecture and design – including

Heatherwick Studio has designed a vast mountain-inspired mixed-use development to be located next to Shanghai’s arts district. The British firm – led by designer Thomas Heatherwick – is creating a verdant 300,000sq m (3.2 sq ft) complex of buildings, with approximately 1,000 structural columns supporting plants and trees. “The design has been conceived not as a building but as a piece of topography, taking the form of two tree-covered mountains,”

A group of Canadian designers have collaborated on a huge illuminated playground in Montreal where members of the public can ride 30 glowing, musical see-saws. Located in the city’s downtown, each see-saw is fitted with LEDs and speakers and emits waves of light and sound which change in intensity depending on movement. The subsequent music and visuals merge together to create an ever-changing composition. The dreamlike effect is enhanced by

South Australian winemaker d’Arenberg is hoping to create a new national landmark by building a twisting new visitor centre mimicking a Rubik’s Cube. Nic Salivati from ADS Architects has designed the five-storey d’Arenberg Cube, which is currently under construction in McLaren Vale, a wine region in the Fleurieu Peninsula. The centre – which will contain a wine tasting room, several bars, a restaurant and a viewing gallery when it opens

Parisian fashion brand Pigalle and architecture firm Ill-Studio have collaborated to create a vivid multicoloured basketball court squeezed between two apartment buildings in the French capital’s 9th arrondissement. Pigalle founder and basketball aficionado Stéphane Ashpool had previously renovated the Rue Duperré court – where he himself plays and offers coaching to local youths – in 2009 with the help of sports brand Nike and basketball icon LeBron James. The colourful

Intricate geometric patterns of insects cover lurid pink walls inside the recently renovated Renwick Gallery in Washington DC, as part of an exhibition exploring the concept of wonder. American artist Jennifer Angus – who is acclaimed for her artistic installations using insects – is behind the work, titled In the Midnight Garden. To complete the piece, she selected 5,000 preserved insects from a variety of brightly-coloured Southeast Asian species and

A unique new attraction is set to open in the Turkish city of Antakya by the end of 2016: a museum/hotel hybrid where guests can walk around archaeological ruins dating back more than 2,000 years. In 2010, international design studio Emre Arolat Architecture had been developing a five-star hotel development on the site, located close to St. Pierre Church – an early centre of Christianity and an important pilgrimage site.

A busy overpass next to Seoul's central train station has been closed as construction work begins on a new city skygarden designed by Dutch architects MVRDV. The 45-year old overpass is being stabilised in readiness for its transformation into Seoul Skygarden; a 938m long (3,077ft) public park, featuring cafés, flower shops, street markets, libraries and greenhouses. MVRDV won a Seoul metropolitan government competition to design the project earlier this year.

A mixed-use piazza designed by Heatherwick Studio for London’s King’s Cross has been given the green light. Camden Council have approved Heatherwick’s plans to transform two disused Victorian coal drop buildings at King’s Cross railway station into 100,000sq m (1m sq ft) of culture and leisure space. The historic structures, which stand apart, will be repaired and connected by a new upper level stitching their two roofs together. Inside, 65

A crumbling 100-year old church in Llanera, northern Spain, has been transformed by local skateboarding enthusiasts and a hotly-tipped artist into a spectacular indoor skate park. Almost every interior surface in the ‘Iglesia Skate’ church is painted with bright murals and geometric patterns, creating a kaleidoscope of colour. The collective behind the scheme – who call themselves the Church Brigade – describe it as “a temple of urban art.” “It’s

Plans to turn Edinburgh’s neoclassical Old Royal High School into a luxury hotel have been turned down at the first vote by the city council. Developers Duddingston House Properties and Urbanist Hotels had proposed a £75m (US$115m, €102m) project to restore and convert the listed 1820s property – which has stood vacant for almost 50 years on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill – into a 147-bedroom Rosewood hotel featuring two newly-constructed, landscaped

A community group in London has completed a design brief for an elevated linear park following one of the city’s disused railway lines. Named the Peckham Coal Line, the proposed green space would occupy a 900m (1km) stretch of a line once used to transport coal between two train stations in Peckham, south-east London. The planned park consists of pedestrian and cycle routes running through Victorian brick viaducts before dropping

A striking, sinuous opera house designed by Beijing studio MAD Architects has opened in the northern Chinese city of Harbin. Located within the wetlands surrounding the Songhua River, the Harbin Opera House has been designed as a response to the region’s untamed wilderness and chilly climate. The building’s smooth white aluminium walls twist and turn as if sculpted by the water and wind, blending into the surrounding environment and transfusing

Rio de Janeiro’s hotly-anticipated Museau do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow) – designed by prize-winning Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava – will be officially opened tomorrow (17 December) by the city’s mayor. The contemporary science museum, which has taken five years to build, is located in the city centre’s Porto Maravilha district – the site of the largest urban development project in Brazil. The Museum of Tomorrow will allow the public to

Street artists and New York businesses have joined forces to beautify the city’s Lower East Side using one simple tool: spray paint. One hundred metal storefront security gates in the Manhattan neighbourhood have become city-sanctioned canvasses for a carefully selected group of graffiti artists, illustrators, graphic designers and abstract painters – including rising stars Shantell Martin, Faust and Mr Stash. The creators have each been partnered with a local business

Sweden’s famous Icehotel has reopened for its 26th winter and is brimming with hand-crafted, ice-sculpted art. Visitors to the hotel – located in Jukkasjärvi, Lapland – can choose to sleep in an art-themed suite, including one featuring a 3m (10ft) tall elephant carved out of snow. Nineteen of the Icehotel’s 50 rooms feature the unique pieces of ice art created by architects and designers from all over the world. You

With construction of Louvre Abu Dhabi entering its final stages, government officials have said a handover of the building will take place in the middle of 2016 – on schedule for an amended opening date at the end of that year. Work on the iconic structure’s roof was completed in October last year, along with all 9,200sq m (99,000sq ft) of the museum’s galleries, plus the concrete work for the

New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is to celebrate Pritzker Prize-winning Toyo Ito with an exhibition exploring how the Japanese architect has inspired fellow designers following in his footsteps. The exhibition – A Japanese Constellation: Toyo Ito, SANAA, and Beyond – will run from 13 March to 4 July 2016. On display will be a retrospective of recent works by three generations of internationally acclaimed designers who have been

The abandoned east wing of London’s iconic Alexandra Palace entertainment venue is to be restored and reopened to the public for the first time in decades. Three million people visit the palace every year to explore its grounds, enjoy concerts and take part in sporting events. However, it has been many years since the public have been able to access the hidden Victorian theatre and television studio located to the

Following a two-year competition involving more than 100 leading architecture and design firms, Heatherwick Studio and Diamond Schmitt Architects have been selected to reimagine and renovate a concert hall for New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The duo have been tasked with transforming the centre’s largest hall – originally designed by Max Abramovitz and opened in 1962 – into a 21st-century symphonic concert venue “where the architecture is

The latest striking creation from the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) opens to the public today (11 December) in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Designed as a series of pixelated steel and glass cubes that appear to float skywards, the Timmerhuis is a mixed-use complex housing shops, restaurants, cafes and Rotterdam’s city museum. The building is a merge between a 1950s municipal office block – which now forms the interior

Australia’s Northern Territory Government has unveiled plans by Darwin-based DKJ projects.architecture to create a new visual art gallery in the centre of Darwin. Led by DKJ in partnership with Fender Katsalidis Mirams, the A$18.5m (US$13.5m, €12.3m, £8.9m) plans feature the redevelopment of the existing Harry Chan building, which will become a gallery for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT). “Our view about museums and galleries is

Plans to build a new five-star Peninsula hotel overlooking the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London have been given the green light. Construction will now begin in Q2 2017 on the 190-room Peninsula London – located in the district of Belgravia – which will be the first UK property for the luxury Hong Kong hotel brand. Westminster City Council have approved the design from British studio Hopkins Architects, who envision

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has launched a new award for the best building in the world. The RIBA International Prize will be open to any building in any country, irrespective of its function or budget. RIBA President Jane Duncan said: “The winning building will demonstrate visionary, innovative thinking and excellence of execution, while making a distinct contribution to its users and to its physical context.” The new

Plans to build the tallest skyscraper in the City of London have been unveiled by Eric Parry Architects, who say it will feature the UK’s highest free public viewing gallery. At a height of 309.6m (1,000ft), Parry’s commercial tower, named 1 Undershaft, will be as tall as its Renzo Piano-designed neighbour The Shard – currently the tallest building in western Europe. It will be located in the heart of the

International innovators and architects NBBJ have revealed their latest unusual design concept: a series of natural ice rinks on London’s River Thames. The firm releases three outside-the-box concept designs every year to inform its commissioned physical projects. The idea is to resurrect a city tradition dating back to the 17th century called the Frost Fair, which would see Londoners take to the frozen waters of the Thames in winter to