Liz Terry, CEO of Leisure Media and editor of CLAD, was invited to identify two architectural trends for the wellness industry in a Trends Jam brainstorming session at the Global Wellness Summit in Mexico City last week. Terry's first trend was Living Buildings. She said that in the future, buildings that are alive will be able to sense our every need: "One day, we'll live and work in structures which

A six-year, US$34m (€32m, £22.5m) renovation of the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) has been completed and the institute is once again open to the public. The development – carried out by Hunzinger Construction with HGA as architects of record – includes a revisioning of MAM’s Collection Galleries, as well as new work on its 1957 Eero Saarinen-designed War Memorial Center and 1975 David Kahler-designed extension, in addition to a new

After seventeen years, Amsterdam’s original Supperclub – a mixture of restaurant, lounge, gallery, bar and club – has moved to a new home, complete with a colourful interior design by Dutch concept creators Concrete. Located in the old Odeon brewery building in the heart of the city’s canal belt, guests to the new Supperclub arrive through the kitchen and enter an oval hall with lavish ornamental elements and a grand

A new home for Lithuania’s modern and contemporary art has been designed by Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind for the city of Vilnius. Studio Libeskind has worked with local firm Do Architects to design the 3,100sq m (33,300sq ft) white cuboid structure, which will house more than 4,000 Lithuanian art works collected by the country’s Modern Art Center (MAC). “This is about the cultural legacy of the country,” said MAC founder

A dramatic mountain-shaped theatre in the southern Chinese city of Dali – the latest cultural creation from Beijing architects Studio Pei-Zhu – has entered the final construction phase. The Yang Liping Performing Arts Center will feature an enormous canopy roof, which falls and rises to evoke the surrounding Cangshan mountain range in China's Yunnan province. Visitors will be encouraged to walk over and under the roof in order to reflect

New York studio REX have been chosen as the lead designers for the forthcoming Performing Arts Center building at the World Trade Center (PACWTC). The architects have been selected over rival firms Henning Larsen and UNStudio to design the 80,000sq ft (7,400sq m) mixed-use cultural venue – which will produce works of theatre, dance, music, opera and film. Once completed, the Performing Arts Centre will form part of the wider

Basra, site of some of the most fierce fighting during the Iraq war, has revealed a redevelopment masterplan which will include the construction of a vast vertical city called The Bride. The scheme is described by its designers – AMBS Architects – as “the tallest structure and first vertical city in the world and a groundbreaking project in all disciplines of engineering.” The development will featuring entire neighbourhoods, commercial centres,

A Norwegian architecture group is transforming an earthquake-hit urban area in Valparaiso, Chile into a community venue for music, theatre and circus performances. The Scarcity and Creativity Studio – formed by Masters students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design – has partnered with youth group Sitio Eriazo to work on the project. Valparaiso, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was badly hit by the 8.3 magnitude quake which caused

The transformation of Pier 57, a derelict 1950s floating pier in New York City, into a mixed-use scheme has been declared “tantalisingly close to being realised”. Seth Pinsky, executive vice president at property firm RXR Realty, has revealed work will begin soon on the 450,000sq ft (41,000sq m) development on the Hudson River – recently rebranded the SuperPier. Speaking at a summit in NYC, Pinsky said the first two floors

A new media library on Réunion Island brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘eye-opening’, with enormous socket-shaped openings staring out from the structure’s facade towards the Indian Ocean. French architects Peripheriques are the team behind the unorthodox structure, located in the island’s French commune St Paul. Irregularly placed gaps across the exterior are intended to resemble eyes seeking knowledge and information from the collection of films and literature

New York’s Parks and Recreation Department is embarking on a bold new public initiative to make the city’s parks more open, welcoming and beautiful. The Parks Without Borders scheme has received US$50m (€46.8m, £32.8m) from the city’s mayor to improve green spaces and better connect local communities. It has been launched as a public outreach campaign which allows citizens to vote for the parks they feel would most benefit from

Europe’s most prestigious architecture prize will today (17 November) be awarded to the Spanish designer Santiago Calatrava Valls. The European Prize for Architecture is presented annually to individuals who have “blazoned a new path and direction for an architecture that is deeply humane and committed to forward the principles of European humanism.” Calatrava – who is also a structural engineer, sculptor and painter – is famous for his artistic neo-futuristic

Five studios have been shortlisted to design a major extension to Manchester’s Hallé St Peter’s music venue; adding extra rehearsal, performance and education space to the Grade II listed former church building in the UK. Caruso St John; Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios; Flanagan Lawrence; Jamie Fobert Architects’ and Stephenson Studio beat off competition from 37 other firms across the UK and Europe in the RIBA-organised contest. The extension will be

The worlds of art and architecture are collaborating in the Danish city of Aarhus, where an ambitious expansion of the city’s modern art museum is underway. Danish studio schmidt hammer lassen architects are working with acclaimed American artist James Turrell to extend the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum; a project which is intended to propel it “into the the world elite museums". The €30m (US$32.3m, £21.2m) expansion - called ‘The Next

An Azerbaijani steakhouse inspired by the myths and legends of fire has opened in Baku’s JW Marriott Absheron. The Fireworks Urban Kitchen is the creation of Henry Chebaane’s Blue Sky Hospitality studio, which has partnered with the hotel on a number of large-scale interior design projects. “Our challenge was to create a steakhouse unlike any other in the world,” Chebaane told CLAD. “It had to be instantly recognisable with a

Ground has been broken on the latest project from Foster + Partners; a museum in Narbonne in the south of France exhibiting a priceless collection of ancient Roman artefacts. Archaeologists working in the city – which was once a major Roman port – have uncovered a treasure trove of ancient buildings and relics. Many of these will be housed in the Musée de la Romanité Narbonne (MuReNA), which has been

US-based National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise the Milwaukee Bucks has released the first interior renderings of its proposed new home; a 17,000-seat indoor arena in the city’s downtown. The images reveal an intimate venue that places the majority of fans in the lower seating tier closer to the on-court action, while members of the team’s fan club have their own exclusive elevated viewing area. Replays will appear on a large

A museum dedicated to Auguste Rodin has reopened in Paris on the 175th anniversary of his birth. Hôtel Biron – the 18th century Parisian mansion that houses the museum – partially shut in 2012 and closed to the public completely at the start of 2015 for a €16m (US$17.1m, £11.3m) overhaul. This included urgent floor repairs and a complete redesign of its interiors – the first such redesign since Rodin

A distinctive amber-coloured music venue, envisioned as a new landmark for Latvia, has opened in the medieval port city of Liepaja. The Great Amber Concert Hall features a glowing facade, which illuminates a distinctive reddish hue when night falls. The asymmetrical design by Austrian architect Volker Giencke was commissioned following an international competition in 2003. The concert hall is intended to provide a fresh cultural and social focal point for

A boutique hotel spread across a maze of waterside houses in Amsterdam’s famous canal district is embarking on an expansive renovation programme. Interior designer Jacu Strauss is leading the revamp of the Pulitzer Amsterdam hotel’s twenty-five 17th Century canal buildings. Rooms are being stripped back to emphasise their historical features, with vintage furniture brought in to complement newly-introduced contemporary stylings. Four themed suites – dedicated to books, music, art and

One of the creative minds behind London’s Millennium Dome and the Pompidou Centre in Paris, has declared Renzo Piano’s forthcoming national opera house and library in Athens to be “a work of pure genius.” In an upcoming interview with CLADmag, Mike Davies – a founding partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour – is quick to praise the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Centre, which is nearing completion. “It's more than a building,” said

Experience designers Bompas & Parr have partnered with composers, perfumers and academics to transform the top of The Shard in London into “the most romantic place in the world.” The studio – best-known for its contemporary food design, culinary research and creation of flavour-based experiences – will operate the ‘Height of Winter’ experience from 23 November until the end of January 2016. According to the company, “super-scaled crystals, gem-studded snow

London-based architecture studio PHASE3 have developed a digital 3D masterplan for ‘The Life Above’ – a Croatian leisure development stretching along the Adriatic coast. The company’s director, Tyen Masten, revealed to CLAD that the latest 3D technology has been used to map out a 3.59sq km (1.38sq miles) complex of high-end hotels, villas, spas, restaurants, retail and entertainment facilities in Dubrovnik. In an exclusive interview, he said: “The use of

Plans are afoot to transform a swathe of industrial West London wasteland into a huge new cultural city where “people will aspire to live, work and play.” Exciting details have emerged about the 30-year development scheme for Old Oak and Park Royal Common; conceived as the UK’s largest regeneration project with around 1.35sq km (0.52sq miles) of available space. CLAD understands that museums, theatre companies, sports and leisure firms will

A new green space in Valencia will fill the the heart of the city with more than 55 acres of plants, trees and flowers. Construction has finally begun on Valencia Parque Central – designed by international landscape architects Gustafson Porter – four years after the approved plans were originally made public. Gustafson Porter beat off competition from a host of international practices, including Zaha Hadid Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour

Brazil’s minister for tourism has said that the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will act as a springboard for the country’s cultural attractions, cementing the Games’ legacy through improved infrastructure and tourist links in the years to come. Following its selection as Games host in 2009, Brazil has come under scrutiny in its preparations for the games, amid slashed budgets cleanliness issues and slow development. Despite

On the back of successful events in Sydney, Berlin and Lyon, London is to welcome a new international light festival at the start of next year. From 14-17 January, Lumiere London will showcase renowned artists from across the world, with the event expected to draw thousands of visitors to the UK capital. Taking place across 20 iconic locations in London’s West End and King’s Cross areas, Lumiere London will be