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

Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a shell-shaped dining pavilion which mixes advanced technology and principles found in nature to create an eating space that doubles as a neofuturistic piece of art. The work, named Volu, was designed by Zaha Hadid and company director Patrik Schumacher for display at the 2015 Design Miami festival in the US state of Florida. The piece was commissioned by real estate developer Robbie Antonio for

Mexico City’s Papalote Children’s Museum has unveiled the winning design for its future home; a forest-inspired building that promotes fun, exploration and discovery. Barcelona-based design studio MX_SI and Mexican firm SPRB were awarded first prize in the competition for the project, which attracted 171 entries from around the world. Construction is expected to begin early next year in Iztapalapa district. The new museum building – which will house an expanded

Assemble, a collective based in London who work across the fields of art, architecture and design have become the first non-artists to win the UK’s most prestigious art award; the Turner Prize. Assemble were honoured for an urban regeneration project they organised in Liverpool, using art and design to oppose gentrification and improve the homes and public spaces of local residents in the city’s Granby Four Streets. The Turner awards

A David Rockwell-designed interactive light display in New York’s Winter Garden Atrium has opened, kickstarting a new seasonal tradition for Lower Manhattan based on the concepts of sharing, giving, community and light. Luminaries takes the form of approximately 650 twinkling LED cubic lanterns, which are suspended in a cascading canopy from the ceiling of the 10-storey glass atrium, located within Brookfield Place – better known as the World Financial Center.

Seven galleries dedicated to European art and history at London’s Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum will reopen on 9 December following a £12.5m (US$19m, €17m) redesign by architects ZMMA. The entire front wing of the museum has been restored to house more than 1,000 artefacts dating from Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Storage space has been reclaimed to enlarge the galleries by a third to 1,550sq m (16,700sq

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles reopens today (7 December) following a multi-million dollar redevelopment marking its 20th anniversary. The museum closed in October 2014 in readiness for an extensive US$125m (€112m, £80m) transformation both inside and out. The original 1960s building has been painted a bright red and fitted with a ribbon-like stainless steel exterior shell, designed by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. More than 800 LEDs accentuate

CLAD understands that the award-winning design for China’s new National Maritime Museum, created by Australian practice Cox Rayner Architects, is now likely to be realised in 2017. The project, located in the city of Tianjin, was originally set to open in 2015 but has suffered delays since it was named the Future Project of the Year at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in 2013. A representative from Cox Rayner told