Austrian artist Klaus Littmann has transformed the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, Austria, into a forest as part of an art installation looking to change people's perception of nature. The 32,000-capacity stadium, home of SK Austria Klagenfurt football club, has been fitted with a mini-forest of 300 trees what is set to become Austria’s largest public art installation. Overseen by Enea Landscape Architecture, the “For Forest: the unending attraction of nature"

Designs have been released for the latest edition of the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, northern Sweden, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The competition saw 126 applications received from artist teams across 34 different countries and 15 were chosen to create designs for the hotel, which will open on 13 December. In addition, three teams received a special invitation to create the new main and ceremony hall, as well

Construction work has begun on a £53m sports facility at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. Designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects, the building will set new standards for sustainability for a sports building and is on target to be the first of this type in the UK to be BREEAM rated ‘Outstanding’. The building’s spaces provide opportunities to exploit natural light and ventilation, while top lighting of the sports hall

The transformation project designed to turn Paisley Museum, in Renfrewshire, Scotland, into a world-class tourist destination is moving forward, with the first images of the redesign produced by architects AL_A being released. The town of Paisley is best known for the pattern of the same name – an ornamental textile design using a teardrop-shaped motif with a curved upper end. Renfrewshire Council is planning to invest a total of £100m

Fitness wear and apparel supplier Gymshark has opened its first Gymshark Lifting Club (GSLC), combining a studio and fitness centre with an innovation hub, focusing on employee wellbeing and brand innovation. Working in partnership with design and build company Oktra, the company has transformed a 55,000sq ft former warehouse facility into a complex featuring a large, 20,000sq ft health club and studio space – designed to be "the best in

Disney Imagineers have promised the biggest ever transformation of any of the Disney parks in announcing a host of new attractions and experiences for its Epcot theme parkin Florida, with many set to open in January or summer 2020. Among the new characters that will inhabit the park are Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Moana and Guardians of the Galaxy. The location will be divided into four neighbourhoods that

Australia’s first Ritz-Carlton, in Perth, is set to open this November with immersive experiences conceptualised around the history, culture and natural beauty found in the region. The hotel’s spa has been created with the guidance of international spa and wellness consultants GOCO Hospitality, Clad in 10,000 pieces of Kimberly sandstone on both the exterior and the lobby, the Ritz-Carlton Perth will feature 205 bedrooms including 18 suites. The Ritz-Carlton Spa

Italian architects firm Archiplanstudio has completed the transformation of a 16th-century building housing a hydraulic water pump into an eco-museum and visitor attraction. The Bondanello Chiavicone, near the northern Italian city of Mantua, was originally built in 1589 to prevent water running down from the provinces of Reggio Emilia and Modena from flooding the area. Work on the building – which first began in 2009 – included the complete renovation

Revellers at Burning Man this week can get an extra dose of heat in the Nevada Desert as Helsinki-based JKMM architects bring the Steam of Life Pavilion to the festival. The circle-shaped Steam of Life Pavilion, co-designed by Sauna on Fire collective, has been built to offer the sequenced sauna experience, as a deconstructed art installation. The timber pavilion is described as “a place for tranquility and contemplation. It’s a

Liverpool Football Club will undertake an "ambitious expansion" of its iconic Anfield stadium in the northern UK city. The English Premier League club has revealed plans to redevelop its Anfield Road stand and to increase the venue's capacity from its current 54,000 to around 60,000. The move is an escalation of Liverpool's existing plans for the Anfield Road stand. The club had already secured planning permission for a redevelopment which

Work has begun on Heatherwick Studio’s latest project in Asia – a landscaped, giant "pergola" in central Tokyo. The mixed-use project will form the heart of Tokyo’s Toranomon-Azabudai district and will sit next to Japan's tallest skyscraper. Heatherwick has been tasked with creating a public realm and a number of low-rise blocks for a development which also includes a 6,000sq m central landscaped square, offices, residential space, retail units, a

Enhanced designs have been submitted for a £42m waterpark and aquatic complex in Derby, UK. Original plans for the Moorways complex – designed by architects FaulknerBrowns – were approved in early 2018, but the current administration which took control of Derby City Council (DCC) in May 2018 ordered a review of the project. The original plans have now been extended to include more waterleisure space, including a waterpark featuring two

Construction work has begun on Pixel, a new residential-led, mixed-use project in Abu Dhabi's new Maker's District. Designed by MVRDV, the development aims to provide residents with a lifestyle based around outdoor living and community spirit – an innovative approach in the Emirates, as it deviates from the prevalent typology of disconnected towers. The 85,000sq m (915,000sq ft) development features 525 apartments, shops, offices, and amenities situated around a lively

Merlin Entertainments, the world's second-biggest visitor attraction operator after Disney, has revealed plans for the largest new addition at its Legoland California resort since the park launched in 1999. The new Lego Movie World area is set to open in 2020 and will be based on the popular Warner Bros movie franchise. The area is being designed by Merlin Magic Making, Merlin's in-house design team, in partnership with Warner Bros

Four Seasons will open a resort in Los Cabos, Mexico this November, designed by Guerin Glass Architects. The Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas will have 141 bedrooms, including 23 suites, designed to integrate indoor-outdoor living. In the hotel, native landscaping and layers of texture – metal, wood, glass, plaster and stone – will contrast with vibrant local art to create an elemental luxury designed to feel warm

A major renovation by Cox Architects and Neeson Murcutt will expand touring exhibition halls and create new facilities at the Australian Museum in Sydney. The attraction closed to the public from 19 August for the improvements, that will see storage space being repurposed to give the museum 1,500sq m (4,900sq ft) of additional touring exhibition halls across two levels. This capacity means it could host either one major exhibition or

German wellness operator Lanserhof has opened its first UK location at the historic Arts Club in London. The six-storey luxury health and wellness club – situated on Dover Market Street in Mayfair – has a focus on personalised services and houses a wide range of gym spaces equipped by Technogym, exercise and studio rooms and a full-service spa featuring treatment rooms and a cryotherapy chamber. Designed by Ingenhoven Architects, the

A £5m (US$6m, €5.4m) programme of improvements at world-famous Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, UK, has reached a milestone, with the opening of a footbridge that joins the two halves of the castle for the first time in more than 500 years. Designed by Ney & Partners engineers and William Matthew Associates Architectural Practice, the bridge spans a 190-foot gorge between the 13th-century gatehouse on the mainland and the courtyard on a

Car manufacturer Toyota has opened its first visitor attraction in North America – the 44,000sq ft (13,400sq m) Toyota Experience Center (TEC) at its headquarters in Plano, Texas. The company says the centre, which was planned, designed and project managed by experience designers JRA, is intended to educate visitors about Toyota's past, present and future as a mobility company. The centre features a variety of interactive exhibits and displays, all

A competition to find alternative designs to replace the destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral roof has attracted a number of innovative "solutions" – including a rooftop waterway over the medieval cathedral. The People’s Notre Dame Cathedral Design Competition was launched in defiance of the French senate’s plans to restore the roof exactly as it was before the devastating fire earlier this year. Set up by book publisher GoArchitect, the campaign invited

Plans have been unveiled to build the world's first 'smart mini-city' in Las Vegas, US. Real estate trust Bleutech Park Properties said the US$7.5bn (€6.7bn, £6.2bn) project will "redefine the infrastructure sector". The insular mini-city will look to utilise the latest technology available, such as automated multi-functional designs, renewable energies from solar/wind/water/kinetic, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, "supertrees", and self-healing concrete structures. Called Bleutech

Plans have been approved for a 19,000-seat, multi-use indoor arena in Belmont Park on Long Island, New York. The US£1.3bn venue is set to become the new home of National Hockey League (NHL) franchise New York Islanders. As well as the indoor arena, the project includes a 350,000sq ft entertainment complex and a 250-bedroom hotel. The plans were approved by the Empire State Development Board – the New York state

Entertainment venues need to undergo technological and design upgrades to prepare them for the experience-seeking consumer of 2040, according to research by Euromonitor International. Commerce 2040 - Revolutionary Tech Will Boost Consumer Engagement outlines a vision for how consumers might live, work, shop and play in 20 years' time, exploring how technology could change the different consumer worlds of entertainment venues, home and retail. Consumers are already moving towards demanding

Ambitious plans to create a large sports and entertainment district in Calgary, Canada have been given the green light after a public funding package was agreed for the development. The City of Calgary has agreed to provide half of the funding for the CA$550m (US$416m, €371m, £344m), project, which is driven by Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) and the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Limited (Stampede). The masterplan for the

Honoured this year among the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's Awards of Excellence in the Innovation in Architecture category, Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool in Edmonton, Alberta, is the first chemical–free public outdoor pool to be built in Canada. The 64,000sq ft (19,500sq m) complex, which includes two pools, a sandy beach and changing rooms, was designed by Toronto-based gh3 architecture. Instead of chlorine or other chemicals for disinfection, Borden

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has appointed Willmott Dixon to construct a new members’ centre adjacent to the iconic Wimbledon Championship complex. The £70m facility, located on Somerset Road, will include 12 new tennis courts (six indoor and six outdoor), new club house facilities, an enhanced arrivals experience for competitors at The Championships and upgraded Centre Court chiller plant. There will also be a single-storey underground car park

Two design academics have built fluorescent pink seesaws that reach across the border on the outskirts of El Paso in Texas, US and Ciudad Juárez in Mexico. Aiming to bring a "playful concept of unity" to the two sides of the divide, the seesaws are the brainchild of Ronald Rael, professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley and Virginia San Fratello, associate professor of design at Mexico's San