Singapore’s National Gallery will open to the public at the end of this year with a new S$532m (US$379.6m, €344m, £243.7m) development housing the world’s largest public collection of Singaporean and Southeast Asian art inside two of the country’s most historical buildings. Designed by Studio Milou Singapore, in partnership with CPG Consultants, National Gallery Singapore is housed within two heritage buildings in the city’s Civic District. Taking up the former

Shanghai’s G+PARK museum cluster has unveiled a colourful new wedding chapel, creating a kaleidoscope of colour for adventurous couples to tie the knot. Designed by Coordination Asia, the Rainbow Chapel is made up of 3,060 glass panels painted in 65 bright translucent colours, surrounded by a square white structure partially open to the surrounding museum park. Both shapes are traditionally important in Chinese symbolism, with the circle representing fullness and

Shigeru Ban’s latest project – the Oita Prefectural Art Museum – has opened in Japan, becoming an artistic piece in its own right to inspire the local community, acting as a “cultural catalyst.” Located on the southwestern island of Kyushu, the building’s timber-lattice clad structure – in reference to the region’s history of producing fine wood crafts – covers three floors and is designed so the external walls, comprised of

Auckland-based architects Patterson Associates have created a shimmering art museum dedicated to experimental artist Len Lye. The NZ$18m (US$11.9m, €10.8m, £7.6m) Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, New Zealand, is the country’s first institution dedicated to a single artist. Described as 'a temple for art', the gallery creates a sensory experience of light inspired by Len Lye, who was known for his kinetic and multimedia pieces. The stainless steel shimmering

The local council of Manchester, UK, is searching for an architect to design a new proposed £110m (US$172.2m, €156m) flexible art space within the city. Supported by £78m (US$122m, €110.6m) in funding from the UK government, the new arts space is dubbed ‘The Factory.’ It forms part of a wider initiative in the north of England to restore the “cultural and economic counterbalance” to London in the south, which in

Work is underway on a new concert hall in Boca del Rio, Mexico, designed by Rojkind Arquitectos. This landmark site is part of a masterplan to regenerate the surrounding area through culture. Once an important port, crime and pollution levels have risen over the past 20 years. The concert hall will also provide a home for the Boca del Rio Philharmonic Orchestra, which was formed last year as part of

Architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh have created an intricate maze at the heart of Genk’s c-mine arts centre in Belgium, using the ‘age-old’ form of the labyrinth to create a structure exploring space and architecture. The Belgian duo, collectively known as Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, have created ‘Labyrinth’, a sculptural-spatial intervention based on the artists' interest in fundamental architectural typologies. Using unique compositions of wall and void, the labyrinth

“With big projects like this one, there's always going to be controversy,” said Nicolas Moreau, co-founder of Moreau Kusunoki, the Paris-based practice that won the competition to design the Guggenheim Helsinki. Moreau Kusunoki – founded by husband and wife team Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki – were announced as the winners of the Guggenheim Helsinki competition in June. Their design features a series of linked pavilions and a glass-topped 'lighthouse-style'

El Equipo Creativo has completed the interior design for Barcelona restaurant, Disfrutar, giving it a distinctly Mediterranean flavour. Ceramics, in different formats, have been used to give each part of the restaurant – the bar, the kitchen and the patio - its own identity. “The client wanted to transmit naturalness, humility and respect for the history and heritage of the Mediterranean,” said the architects. “In each space it is transformed

Italian architectural practise, Archea Associati, has created a ceramic museum in Liling, China, comprised of a number of vase-like structures. Set for completion later this year, the volumes are arranged in a circular plan and clad in a variety of patterns and colours. The architects say the inspiration was the city’s ceramic heritage and the client’s wish to include various functions on the site, including a museum, a hotel and

Elephants at the Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park at Zoo Zurich, in Switzerland, now have an architecturally designed enclosure, thanks to Markus Schietsch Architekten, who designed an elaborate new habitat. The 73,000sq ft (6,782sq m) enclosure includes shelter within a wood and ETFE geodesic dome, with a glass enclosed swimming pool. A series of open air spaces, with rocky terrain and dense vegetation, are connected to this sheltered habitat. The impressive

A monumental aerial sculpture created by Echelman Studio has been suspended over Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway, bringing art to the city's skies. Commissioned by The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, As If It Were Already Here is the signature contemporary art installation in the Greenway Conservancy’s Public Art Program, running from May until October. Made out of 100 miles of twine, the sculpture soars 600ft (183m) in the air, spanning the

UNStudio have been chosen to design a new city centre theatre in Den Bosch, the Netherlands. The design competition involved the local residents voting for one of two finalists and UNStudio received 57 per cent of the vote, seeing off competition from Rotterdam studio Ector Hoogstad Architects. The Theatre on the Parade will be located on the large and lively public square, which was an important consideration in the design:

McInnes Usher McKnight Architects' (MUMA) “highly-original” extension and refurbishment of Manchester’s Whitworth art gallery has made the shortlist of six for this year's Stirling Prize. It was described by award organisers, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), as “a project for all seasons, where art, nature and architecture combine” which “could be the eulogy for a building which is neither high-key nor overtly fashionable”. The Whitworth reopened on 14

A competition for the development of a 6,000sq m (64,583sq ft) visitor attraction based on the fairytales of Hans Christian Andersen has been launched in Odense, Denmark. Part of a downtown regeneration of Odense, the contest comes two years after an initial contest kicked off on the same site for a ‘House of Fairytales’. Transborder Studio, Rodion Kitaev and London-based Leith Kerr Architecture were named winners of the previous contest,

City dwellers in Melbourne will get to experience the sensation of being in a forest canopy thanks to a new temporary pavilion designed by Amanda Levete’s AL_A studio. It will open in October in the Australian city’s Queen Victoria Gardens as the second edition of the annual MPavilion architecture commission and design event. Built using the latest nautical-engineering technology, a series of carbon-fibre poles that bend and sway in the

The Hong Kong Museum of Art is to close in August for a four-year HK$930m (US$120m, €109m, £78m) renovation, which will nearly double the amount of exhibition space available to the 53-year-old institute. Scheduled to reopen in 2019, the museum’s main exhibition area will be expanded to 10,000sq m (107,600sq ft), with an additional three galleries also being developed, increasing the total number to 10. The re-christened Hong Kong Art

Design Hotels’ latest property aims to offer an authentic and quintessential Italian experience having secured the services of designer Alessandro Agrati. Filario Hotel & Residences is located by Lake Como, in Lezzeno, Italy, and features 21 rooms and apartments, each with their own private terrace. In creating the hotel’s décor, Agrati implemented his signature style of “dressing” interiors with textiles and light and strong-tempered objects. Guestrooms have been designed to

British architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners have won a competition to build a research and conservation facility for the Louvre. The new facility will be built in in Liévin in northern France and will house around 250,000 works of art from more than 60 different French locations. The Musée du Louvre and the Nord-Pas de Calais region announced that RSH+P, known for the British Museum’s new World Conservation and

The Studio Museum in Harlem – an institute promoting the work of artists of African descent – could move from its century-old headquarters, with plans by the architectural team of Adjaye Associates to develop a new US$122m (€110m, £79.1m) home in New York City. The conceptual design for the five-storey museum building by British-Tanzanian architect David Adjaye – which will be submitted to the city’s public design commission on 14

Proposals to regenerate wasteland in the heart of London’s Shoreditch through a mixed-use scheme are being carried forward by developers Hammerson and Ballymore, aided by a phalanx of top designers. The Bishopsgate Goodsyard development would see the creation of the mixed-use complex just a stone’s throw from hipster hangout Brick Lane, comprising 1,356 new homes, offices, 200,000sq ft (18,580sq m) of commercial space, a 2.4 acre public park, plus a

A twisted temporary pavilion from J. Mayer H. is helping the German city of Karlsruhe celebrate the 300th anniversary of its founding. The KA300 pavilion features a large auditorium with a stage and its design is a nod to the strictly geometric, radial layout of the Baroque planned city of Karlsruhe, with the palace as its focal point. Erected in the city's castle gardens, the event pavilion will host concerts,

Herzog and De Meuron’s Triangle Tower – which features a 120-room four-star hotel and panoramic restaurant – is to become Paris’ first skyscraper for more than 40 years after getting the green light from the city council. The controversial pyramid-shaped structure was initially rejected by councillors, but the November 2014 vote was annulled by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. In the re-run, the project was approved after receiving 87 votes in

Renzo Piano’s designs for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures are to be realised, after Los Angeles City Council gave the final stamp of approval for the US$300m (€263.5m, £190.4m) development. With planning permission now granted, museum representatives hope to open the facility to the public by 2017. The council voted unanimously 13-0 in the development’s favour, with construction potentially starting by the of this summer. The Academy Museum's architectural

The Museum of London has been awarded £200,000 ($314,453, €281,571) to set up an architectural competition to choose a practice to design its new home at nearby Smithfield Market. The Greater London Authority (GLA) designated the funds as part of its backing for the proposed relocation, on behalf of London’s mayor, Boris Johnson. The museum will now appoint an architect and other consultants to develop the design of the new

The team behind an ambitious New York design project to create the ‘world's first underground park’ have turned to Kickstarter to raise US$200,000 (€179,000, £127,000) for technical development for the complex scheme. The US$60m (€53.8m, £38.2m) Lowline project, designed by James Ramsey of Raad Studio, would see the transformation of an abandoned, underground trolley terminal in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It would harness solar power to become a fully-lit public

Architect Shigeru Ban’s newly-opened art museum in Japan has been designed to serve as an outside space to be freely used by all – connecting the interior galleries to the surrounding city area. Oita Prefectural Art Museum (OPAM) features a collection of more than 5,000 works by Japanese painters and sculptors, and is touted as a museum of encounters and of the five senses. It is located in the city