Matt Gibbs, a landscape architecture student, has come up with a proposal for a frosty new transport network. An 11km (6.8m) long ‘Freezeway’ that will offer people a chance to ice skate to work. Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, maintains an average sub-zero temperature throughout the winter. Instead of seeing these conditions as a challenge, Gibbs wants to harness this environment and create a dual function commuter network that acts as

An Argentinian design team, headed up by Carlos Nahuel Recabarren, has won a UNESCO design competition to create a Cultural Centre in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. From more than 1,000 design proposals that were submitted in the single stage competition – which opened in November 2014 – Carlos Nahuel Recabarren, Manuel Alberto Martinez Catalan and Franco Morero’s project, entitled ‘Descriptive Memory: The Eternal Presence of Absence’ was picked as the winner. Paolo

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, London, UK, has been given the green light to build a new 56,250-capacity stadium after winning its High Court battle against the sole business standing in the way of its redevelopment. Plans for the £400m (US$644m, €498m) stadium, being built next to Tottenham’s current home of White Hart Lane, were challenged by landowner Archway Sheet Metal Works at the High Court because of a compulsory purchase

BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), the architectural practice behind many of the world's most audacious leisure buildings, has added four new partners to manage growth. The practice, which currently has offices in New York and Copenhagen, has also appointed 17 new associates. The new partners are Beat Schenk – who’s worked with BIG since 2011; Daniel Sundlin – who led the design for the Audemars Piguet Museum in Switzerland; Jakob Sand

Belatchew Architects have revealed designs for a bike garage in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden, to cater for the city's growing ranks of cyclists: it will have parking facilities for up to 700 bikes. The project – still in the early stages – will be built on a site next to a major train station. The garage will also act as a community space, with cafés, repair shops and social

Boston Partners, the Ethiopian company known for building Kuriftu-branded resorts, is to construct a new resort on Moucha Island – off the coast of the Republic of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa – in an attempt to establish the Kuriftu brand in east Africa. In December 2013, Kuriftu signed a 50-year lease for 500,000sq m (5,381,955sq ft) of land on the coral island Moucha. It hired Eyasu Siraj, a

Sport, museum, culture, recreation and mixed use schemes all feature on the shortlist for this year’s Designs of the Year award. Of 76 nominated projects, representing the work of the best global design talent, an overwhelming number are leisure-related. Organised by the Design Museum, London, the Designs of the Year awards have been running for the past eight years. Awards are presented in six categories; architecture, digital, fashion, product, graphic

Foster + Partners has revealed its designs for the NT$150m (US$4.8m, €4.1m, £3.1m) aquarium to be built at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology (NMMST) in Keelung City, Taiwan. Scheduled to open in 2018, Foster and Partners’ plans for what will be the country’s largest aquarium employs titanium and green designs to create a modern light-filled environment, reminiscent of the ocean shallows. The design also incorporates a building

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held for South Korea’s US$1.8bn (€1.6bn, £1.2bn) Resorts World Jeju, which is aiming to rival its Singaporean counterpart at Resorts World Sentosa. Being jointly developed by Chinese property developer Landing International Development and Genting Singapore, the resort will cover 2.5sq km (1sq m) and will offer more than 20 different rides and attractions in seven different zones. Also included will be a waterpark and a

London-based architecture practice Brisac Gonzalez has received planning permission for a multi-million dollar mixed-use project in Paris, France. Developer Paris Habitat – France’s biggest public housing agency – is building the residential and leisure complex in the 17th arrondissement of Paris in Clichy-Batignolles. It’s part of the first phase of a wider urban development project where a new 54-hectare (133-acre) eco-district is being constructed on the former railway site of

Plans to create a third financial district in London – to rival the City and Canary Wharf – have taken a significant step forward after a Chinese investment firm announced backing to the tune of £1bn (US$1.5bn, €1.4bn). China Minsheng Investment Corp Ltd, the mainland country’s largest private investment firm, will join Chinese developer Advanced Business Park (ABP) on the Farrells-designed project, which aims to transform the historic Royal Albert

Jon Jerde, founder of The Jerde Partnership, has died aged 75. Jerde, who was viewed by many as the father of modern shopping centre design, died on 9 February 2015 at his home in Los Angeles, US. Jerde established his practice in 1977, following a commission for a retail centre in San Diego from Ernie Hahn, a shopping mall developer. For years Jerde designed shopping malls and he began to

The Indian government is planning on expanding its world-famous Film City in Mumbai, with future additions for the home of Bollywood to include a theme park to lure in more tourists. Primarily being built to meet demand for India’s ever-growing entertainment industry, the new Film City will be built on 438 acres (1.7sq km) of land at nearby Kalyan, with the entertainment hub aimed at capitalising on “Bollywood tourism.” In

Raison d’Etre has entered into a strategic partnership with Cayan Group, a Middle Eastern real estate developer, to create a spa on the sixth floor of the Cayan Tower in Dubai Marina under the spa consultancy’s LivNordic concept. Located within the existing residential tower and designed by Italian architecture firm M+N architecture, the project will see Raison d’Etre working with interior specialist Blue Camel Design to complete the spa in

Bollywood star Sanjay Khan’s RS10bn (US$162m, €127.5m, £99.7m) theme park in Agra, based on developing replicas of past and future civilisations, has been given a one-month deadline to acquire land for the project. The land acquisition deal has hit several hurdles after some farmers – who use the land as their only source of income – were resistant to the sale of land. With a deadline set for 8 March,

Design firm Gensler has been awarded a London Planning Award for its London Underline concept – a network of cycle and pedestrian paths running beneath the city. Gensler first came up with the idea for the London Underline in 2014. With London’s population higher than ever, the firm looked for ways to expand public space and offer alternative transport routes. The answer, they found, was underground in disused tube tunnels.

Qatar will host the inaugural International Stadium Construction Expo (QISC) this June. The event will act as a meeting point for companies and organisations looking to bid for projects in the region – such as those relating to the FIFA 2022 World Cup and the Qatari government’s wider Vision 2030 programme of investment. Organised by Pavilion Exhibitions & Conferences (PEC), QISC will take place from 7 to 10 June 2015.

The Hyatt Playa del Carmen, Mexico, designed by Mexican architect Javier Sordo Madaleno of Rockwell Group, is scheduled to launch on June 1 2015 featuring a natural mangrove jungle, oceanfront infinity pools and a spa. Within the 314-bedroom beach resort there is a spa with cenotes – natural pits featuring groundwater that are used as swimming holes. These are typically found on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The new hotel

Hot on the heels of its announcement for a US$3.5bn (€3.1bn, £2.3bn) winter wonderland theme park to be built in Fort Worth, Texas, multi-media entertainment company DreamVision has unveiled plans for a second US$3.5bn theme park for Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Scheduled to open in 2019, DreamVision Soundscape – which will built upon the musical heritage of Muscle Shoals – will cover 2.2sq m (5.7sq km) and is being developed simultaneously

Plans have been officially unveiled for a US$3.5bn (€3.1bn, £2.3bn) theme park in Fort Worth, Texas, to be opened by multi-media entertainment company DreamVision. The park, tentatively titled ‘DreamVision Mountain, Dreamscape, Texas’, is to be built on 20sq km (7.8sq m) of land in the Fort Worth area. Expected to open in 2020, the year-round winter wonderland will include shops, restaurants, a transportation centre, a performing arts centre, an entertainment

Work has started on the M+ Museum West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), Hong Kong, following a ground breaking ceremony. Designed by Herzog and de Meuron in partnership with TFP Farrells and Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong, the museum's ground breaking was marked by the burial of a commemorative time capsule containing contemporary and local items, ready to be rediscovered in a century. The M+ Museum, with a floor space

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has given a grant of £7.8m (US$11.8m, €10.4m) to ‘The Sill’ a new visitor centre for Hadrian’s Wall and Northumberland National park. The most recent plans for ‘The Sill’ were announced in October 2014, outlining that the project needed at least £11.2m (US$17.9m, €14.3m) to get it off the ground. The HLF grant will help to secure the future of the project, while other donations

The opening of a planned visitor centre in Falkirk, Scotland, has been delayed for further expansion after visitor numbers to the Kelpies doubled original expectations. Work on the development has already started nearby artist Andy Scott’s giant horse-head sculptures, which are at the centre of the Helix parkland project. The sculptures debuted in April 2014, with more than 680,000 people visiting by September and an estimated 950,000 to visit in

The Broad, a new contemporary art museum in Los Angeles, US, is set to open to the public on 20 September 2015. The US$140m (€123m, £91.6m) museum is being funded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, founders of the The Broad Art Foundation whose assets total US$2.6bn (€2.2bn, £1.7bn). Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) in collaboration with Gensler, the museum has been dubbed “the veil and vault”, referring

FIGMENT, an arts festival that takes over Governors Island in New York City every summer has announced two winners for its 2015 City of Dreams pavilion competition. First started in 2007, FIGMENT acts as a forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art. Since then, it has grown in size and public support and is now a major art event in cities across the USA over the

Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort has opened on Hainan Island in Sanya, China’s southernmost province, promising the opening of a lakeside spa later in 2015. Situated three miles from Yalong Bay, the island’s most popular tourist destination, the 207-bedroom property has been designed by Belgian architect Jean-Michel Gathy of design firm Denniston. The modernist development comprises six standalone arch-shaped buildings designed to allow chi, the traditional Chinese notion of

Global architecture and design firm Atkins has been appointed to design a landmark development in Changsha, China. Atkins is working closely with developer Changsha Northstar Real Estate Development Company to create a the Northstar Changsha Centre, which will include a 400m (1,312ft) landmark tower. Situated in Hunan province, Changsha is one of China’s most economically advanced cities. Already acting as a commercial and industrial hub, this development will offer new