RMJM Shanghai has won a competition to design a monument for the Hengyang in Hunan Province, China, with a design aimed at reflecting the city's status as a fast-evolving tech hub as well as its cultural heritage. The Xiangjiang Gate will comprise two bipedal towers that curve up from their feet and rise gracefully together to 177m (581ft), joining and torquing at their midriffs, before separating again at the top.

Avanton, a London-based property developer, has announced potential plans to create an alligator farm and enclosure inside a Grade II-listed Victorian gasholder on the city's Old Kent Road. The enclosure would form the centrepiece of a housing and office development worth a reported £230m (US$300m, €270m). The structure's tanks would be converted to become a habitat, while part of the 160ft (49m) iron frame would be glazed to create a

Rockwell Group have unveiled designs for luxury hospitality and wellness amenities at Manhattan's 550 Madison office tower, which is currently being renovated by co-owners Olayan Group. The updated amenities will complement work like the development of a new public garden designed by Snøhetta that will increase the amount of public open space at the tower by 50 per cent and bring new green space to the area. They are intended

New details have been revealed about the immersive, game-themed Super Nintendo World, which is due to open at Universal Studios Japan in Tokyo this summer. The theme park land has been conceived for visitors to feel as if they are playing inside their favourite Nintendo video games and will feature Nintendo’s well-known worlds, characters and adventures. Technology and design will be used to blend the physical world with a digital,

Aurelien Chen has created a pavilion in China that reimagines the traditional Chinese landscape of mountains, forest, clouds and water. The 350sq m (3,770sq ft) Dragon Mountain Landmark Pavilion, so-called because of its location in Zhulongshan – literally Dragon Mountain, was created to draw the attention to the entrance of the Dragon Mountain Natural site. Described by Chen as "an ethereal and abstract version of a traditional Chinese landscape", the

Eye In The Sky have produced two inhabitable bubbles in which guests can stay for an up-close experience with elephants at Anantara 's Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort. The 650,000sq m (7 million sq ft) resort is located in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, at the confluence of the Thailand, Laos and Myanmar borders. Situated on a hill, it provides views out over each country, of the Mekong and Ruak

MAD Architects are in the third and final stage of construction for the Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center mixed-use development in Nanjing, China, with completion due this year. According to MAD, "The scheme seeks to restore the spiritual harmony between humanity and nature through the integration of contemplative spaces that, while immersing inhabitants in nature, still meets the conveniences of modern-day living." Covering 560,000sq m (6 million sq ft), the vast

European health spa operator Ensana has recently opened a new luxury wellness and relaxation centre at its 5-star Thermia Palace Ensana Health Spa Hotel, on the spa island of Piešt’any, Slovakia. The €4m ($4m, £3m) development, which covers almost 13,000sq ft (1,200sq m), features year-round indoor and outdoor swimming pools, experience showers, a tepidarium, a large whirlpool, Finnish infrared sauna and steam room. The new wellness and relaxation centre at

BuroHappold will transform New York State's Erie Canal as part of a $300m (€269m, £231m) initiative to grow regional tourism, support outdoor recreation, reduce flooding, restore wetlands and improve irrigation. The project has come out of the Reimagine the Canals Task Force, which is aimed at developing a canal system fit for the 21st century. Work on the 350mi (560km)-long canal, which passes through 225 communities along its course, is

The Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River is due to open early this year, with a design by Denniston founder Jean-Michel Gathy that is inspired by Thai culture and the hotel's riverfront location. Occupying a 200m (660ft) stretch along the Chao Phraya River, around which the Thai capital was first settled and grew, the hotel's design makes abundant and synergistic use of water. Flowing streams, waterfalls and pools

Open Platform and JAJA Architects have won a competition to create a new multi-storey car-park and mobility hub in Aarhus, Denmark, with a wooden design that will incorporate space for activities, creativity and socialising. Working with Rama Studio and Søren Jensen Engineers, the firms sought to design a facility that would play an active role in the development of the district in the future. The car-park itself will cover 19,300sq

Jora Vision have created a masterplan and concept designs for a new Russian theme park inspired by the literary poems and fairy tales of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. Pushkin is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. His fairy tales, which centre around an imaginary land called "Lukomorye", have entertained children for hundreds of years. Now, Svetoch LLC, a company based in

Plans for the £337m ($438m, €394m) Museum of London, designed by Stanton Williams, Asif Khan and Julian Harrap Architects, have been submitted to the City of London Corporation. Described as "one of the biggest cultural projects happening in Europe", the museum has been in development since 2015, with the Stanton Williams and Asif Khan-led team announced in 2016 and the designs revealed earlier this year. The facility is to be

Looklen Architects have created a stripped back gym in Bangkok, Thailand, that uses steel latticing to create transparent partitions and pieces of furniture around the space. This third branch of Sam Yan Gym was actually completed in 2016, but the project has only just surfaced. The owner wanted to create a contemporary and functional gym, but one that was also differentiated from others. The facility is located in a former

Gad Line+ Studio have created a reading space in China that resembles a cloud floating in its rocky mountain surroundings. Jiunvfeng Study is situated on Mount Tai in Daiyue District, Tai’an City, and has a footprint of 287sq m (3,100sq ft). The building is constructed on a stone plinth, curving with the shape of the mountain to create two bulbous ends joined by a more sinuous midriff. Flowing floor-to-ceiling windows

TechnoAlpin created a snow-filled retail installation for clothing brand Woolrich as part of the 97th edition of clothing exhibition Pitti Uomo from 9-10 January last week. The Woolrich Forest installation was created in Florence’s La Dogana, with a space in the building transformed into a winter scene that echoed the wintry landscapes of Pennsylvania, where the brand was founded, and that allowed its outdoor products to be suitably showcased. TechnoAlpin

The Grand Egyptian Museum, designed by Heneghan Peng Architects, has finally been given an opening date, with one of the year's biggest cultural openings now scheduled to open in the final quarter of 2020. Construction of the museum began in 2006 but was delayed by the 2011 revolution in Egypt. Around 90 per cent of construction work is now complete, though, and all of the planned artefact transfers to the

Henning Larsen Architects have been chosen to create an all-timber neighbourhood just outside the city centre of Copenhagen, Denmark, with nature deeply integrated and built with active lifestyles in mind. Fælledby will transform a former dumping ground and has been designed to accommodate 7,000 residents. In addition to providing a model for how new developments can combine sustainable architecture and environmentalist principles, it is hoped that the design will foster

Fyra have designed a new concept self-service store in Helsinki, Finland, where online shopping customers can have items delivered, collect them, try clothes items on and return items that they don't want to keep. Created for Finnish postal and logistics company Posti and developed in partnership with consulting company Motley, Box is based on the growth of online retail and the recognition that there was a gap to fill in

SHoP Architects has designed an urban farm and cultural hub for Washington, DC, that is aimed at providing an economic driver, a community resource and a space for events. The Well at Oxon Run is being created for local food justice organisation DC Greens, which sourced a new location following the closure of another urban farm it was running in 2018. It will see the transformation of an underutilised 50,000sq

Takeru Shoji Architects (TSA) have created a house in Tsurugasone, Japan, that uses its own lack of self-sufficiency and open, permeable spaces to engage the local community and create opportunities for socialising. Hara House comprises 166sq m (1,787sq ft) vinyl-covered timber frame structure and is based on a simple tent-like triangular shape, but with additional forms of the shape projecting outwards at 90 degrees to its main body. These origami-like

studioTroika has designed the latest branch of boutique fitness franchise EverybodyFights, founded by George Foreman III, which is set to open in New Hampshire. The 6,200sq ft (604sq m) club will feature a full-size boxing ring, personal and small group training areas, two group exercise classrooms and an open gym space including free weights, squat racks, functional equipment and treadmills. Chris DaVeiga, trainer at EverybodyFights and operator of the new

PDP London have won a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) international design competition to create a new green trail in South London that will make use of Victorian rail viaducts that are no longer in use. The Low Line project was conceived by local resident David Stephens in 2012 as a means of repurposing the disused rail infrastructure that runs along the south of the River Thames as public

Minnesota Zoo is raising money to create a treetop walkway on an old monorail track and to repurpose a former IMAX theatre for use as an adventure hub. The plans are part of a capital investment request and – the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune newspaper reports – have been developed as an alternative to acquiring new or exotic animal exhibits as a means to attract visitors. The $11m (€9.9m, £8.4m), 1.3mi

Dattner Architects have been chosen to transform the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center North Campus in Brooklyn into an affordable housing complex with integrated leisure, wellness and community elements. The project, which is part of a wider initiative to create more affordable housing in Brooklyn, will see three buildings demolished on the 102,000sq ft (9,500sq m) site, as well as the redevelopment of a former hospital building. A total of 266

Installations inspired by the sun, a kaleidoscope and noodles have won Toronto's sixth annual Winter Stations design competition, via which the city's lifeguard stations are transformed into thought-provoking pieces of pop-up art. Winter Stations was conceived by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates and Curio as a way to encourage Toronto residents and visitors to visit the city's beaches during the winter, to experience artworks and to make new connections with

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Toyota have unveiled plans for a prototype city of the future designed to be a living laboratory for testing new technologies, ways of living and approaches for sustainability. Woven City will cover 175ac (71ha) at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan and will be home to full-time residents, as well as researchers in different fields. Among the areas being studied will be autonomous technologies,