The United Nations has predicted it will take "until 2040 and probably longer" to rebuild the homes in Gaza that have been destroyed in the Israel-Hamas war.

Using data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the report estimated it would take 16 years to rebuild the homes destroyed in Gaza as Israel's military action in Palestine continues, following the 7 October 2023 assault on Israel by Hamas militants.

"Even under optimistic scenarios for the pace of physical reconstruction, the scale of destruction in Gaza has been such that, simply from the narrow perspective of moving in building materials, it would still take until 2040 and probably longer to restore the housing units destroyed since the start of the war," said the researchers, reported the Guardian.

The report was created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) to investigate the expected socio-economic impact of the conflict in Gaza.

The report sets 2040 as the most optimistic scenario – basing the date on if the war were to end immediately, however, this estimation only accounts for destroyed homes and does not factor in the repair of all damaged buildings.

It made clear that rebuilding and repairing the damage to Gaza's infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, will take decades.

The report also predicted the impact on Human Development Index (HDI) estimates for Palestine if the war continues for an additional one, two and three months.

It estimated that after nine months of conflict, reduced levels of health, education, and wealth would correspond to a loss of over 20 years of development in Palestine. When analysing Gaza alone, this rises to 44 years of development being wiped out.

"Unlike previous wars, the destruction in Gaza today is unprecedented in scope and scale and coupled with the loss of homes, livelihoods, natural resources, infrastructure as well as institutional capacities, may have deep and systemic impacts for decades to come," said ESCWA executive secretary Rola Dashti.

"This assessment projects that Gaza will be rendered fully dependent on external assistance on a scale not seen since 1948, as it will be left without a functional economy, or any means of production, self-sustainment, employment, or capacity for trade."

The UNDP and ESCWA report supplements the Gaza Strip Interim Damage Assessment published by the United Nations (UN) on 29 March, which stated that by the end of January 2024, damages to the built environment in Gaza amounted to around $18.5 billion. Damage to the housing sector made up 72 per cent of this cost.

This included the damage and destruction of 62 per cent of all homes, which equated to 290,820 housing units in Gaza.

The assessment also stated that 84 per cent of health facilities had been destroyed or damaged, and a total of 56 school facilities had been destroyed and 219 partially damaged.

It also announced that unexploded weapons and around 26 million tonnes of rubble would need to be cleared from Gaza for reconstruction to commence. This has since reportedly increased to an estimated 37 million tonnes, which alone could take up to 14 years to remove.

The photography is by Emad El Byed via Unsplash. Comments have been turned off on this story due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter.

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Curator Carlo Ratti and president of the Venice Architecture Biennale Pietrangelo Buttafuoco have announced Intelligens Natural Artificial Collective as the title and theme of the event's nineteenth edition.

The word Intelligens was chosen to suggest an inclusive "future of intelligence," according to Ratti.

"The title of the International Architecture Exhibition is usually announced both in English and in Italian," Ratti said. "In 2025 it will be condensed into a single word for both languages via the common Latin precedent: intelligens."

"The title Intelligens is linked to the modern term 'intelligence', but it also evokes a wider set of associated meanings," he added. "In fact, the final syllable, 'gens' is Latin for 'people'."

"A new, fictional root emerges, suggesting a future of intelligence that is inclusive, multiple, and imaginative beyond today’s limiting focus on AI," he added.

Venice Architecture Biennale to explore new technologies

Set to take place from 10 May to 23 November 2025 across the Italian city, the exhibition aims to explore new technologies to challenge the built environment's position as "one of the largest contributors to atmospheric emissions", the Venice Architecture Biennale said.

It aims to search for a path forward by exploring a "definition of 'intelligence' as an ability to adapt to the environment with limited resources, knowledge, or power," it added.

The international architecture exhibition will look at different types of intelligence – natural, artificial and collective – with buildings, objects and urban plans placed along one of those three axis or shown as a combination of the three.

"Learning from many sciences, this exhibition hopes to accelerate the transformation of the present through fearless trial and error, and to find a better future in the process," the biennale said.

According to the event, architects will be cast in the role of "'mutagens' stimulating natural evolutionary processes and sending them off in new directions."

Ratti aimed for the international exhibition and the national pavilions to have some coordination, suggesting exhibitions address the prompt "one place, one solution." 

Exhibitions to create "global kit for adapting to the future"

"Showcasing how local ingenuity can address our time's existential challenge that can only be tackled in a cooperative manner, reflecting a multiplicity of approaches," Ratti said.

"If every country brings one success to the table, together we can assemble a global kit for adapting to the future."

The event will also see the second edition of the Biennale College Architettura, led by Ratti as the artistic director, which invites students, graduate students and emerging practitioners under the age of 30 to submit projects that address the theme of natural, artificial and collective intelligence to combat the climate crisis.

The biannual Venice Architecture Biennale is the most significant global architecture event. The appointment of Ratti as the event's curator at the end of last year was described as a "a screeching U-turn" by critic Catherine Slessor in an opinion piece on Dezeen.

The main image is by Andrea Avezzù courtesy of the Venice Architecture Biennale.

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Italian architecture studio Carlo Ratti Associati has proposed a replacement design for the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore following its collapse in early 2024.

In collaboration with structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and the construction group Webuild, the proposed design will feature primary support pillars "well away from the navigation channel used by large vessels".

The previous Francis Scott Key Bridge (Key Bridge), which stretched across the Patapsco River, collapsed in late March 2024 after one of its piers was struck by a container ship that suffered an electrical blackout.

Carlo Ratti Associati has designed a replacement cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 2,230 feet (700 metres), an increase from the 1,200-foot (365 metre) span of the collapsed Key Bridge, which will place the central supports farther apart than the previous design.

"Opting for a cable-stayed solution enables the piles to be positioned at a safe distance, well away from the navigation channel used by large vessels and hence preventing the risk of a tragedy such as the one of March 26 happening again," said Carlo Ratti Associati founding partner Carlo Ratti.

In contrast to a cable-stayed bridge, the former Key Bridge was a steel arch continuous through truss bridge, an option that while strong, can be expensive and time-consuming to construct.

This means it's more material-efficient and ultimately sustainable, according to the team.

"In terms of sustainability, Baltimore's cable-stayed design is one of the most material-efficient ways to build at the proposed span, minimizing the project's embodied carbon," said the team.

"Moreover, it avoids the need to construct artificial islands to protect the pillars, which would considerably disturb the ecosystem of the Patapsco River," it continued.

Photovoltaic panels would also be installed "across the whole span".

Other updates would include the addition of a new lane on either side, bringing its total width to six lanes as opposed to four to accommodate high traffic and an increase in clearance from 185 feet (56 metres) to 230 feet (70 metres) in adherence to the shipping industry's latest standards.

It would also include integrated "smart features" that build upon Ratti's Good Vibrations research as a professor at MIT – which included capturing vibration data from smartphones placed in vehicles crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

The replacement will also reconnect Baltimore "socially". It is unconfirmed if the design will be taken up by the city.

"This approach also provides a light-weight solution to reconnect two sides of Baltimore, both socially and economically–what American infrastructure should be striving to do in the 21st century," said Ratti.

According to the New York Times, the incident remains under the process of investigation, while Reuters reported Maryland officials aim for a 2028 completion of a replacement, with proposals requested by the end of May 2024.

Meanwhile, the resulting closure of the Port of Baltimore is causing delays in the global supply chain, with officials hoping to reopen the passage by the end of May.

Elsewhere, a recent report by the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority criticised parties involved in the construction and design of a bridge that collapsed in Norway in 2022.

The images are by Brick Visual.

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Sportswear brand Nike is developing its own generative AI model to design products using its vast bank of athlete data, Dezeen can reveal.

According to Nike's chief innovation officer John Hoke, the company is seeking to take advantage of its exclusive data on athlete performance with a bespoke large language model (LLM).

LLMs are a text-based form of artificial intelligence (AI) trained to recognise language patterns. The best-known example is OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Nike building AI "private garden"

"We use all the LLMs that are out there and we do have a model that we're building in-house," Hoke told Dezeen.

"It's a little bit of thinking about developing a private garden, of looking at our own datasets that are exclusive to Nike – so performance data from an athlete, from our laboratories, et cetera. And then kind of commingling that with some things from the public garden, but making sure that that's all contained within what we're training the model on."

The name of Nike's AI model is yet to be finalised.

Hoke spoke to Dezeen at a recent Nike event in Paris, where the brand unveiled its new collection of elite sports footwear ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, which take place in the French capital this summer.

The company also showcased Athlete Imagined Revolution (AIR), a project that saw the design team create prototype shoes for 13 of Nike's top athletes – including US sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson and French footballer Kylian Mbappé – based on their requests and personalities.

Prompts based on the athletes' preferences were inputted into generative AI models to create hundreds of images that Nike designers then rapidly honed down into single concepts using other digital fabrication techniques including 3D sketching and printing.

"I would call this a new alchemy of making product at Nike," said Hoke.

"And that is taking the athletes' dreams, going deep into their personality, understanding what they're all about, adding that with our own imagination, our own intentions and those emerging technologies – AI and computational design – and kind of converging these together."

World Athletics regulations dictate that shoes used in competitions must be widely available, so it is not clear whether this hyper-personalised approach will ever make it to the track at tournaments.

"All the sports are governed by the proper regulations, and that governance is critically important to us," said Hoke. "We're not seeking an unfair advantage."

However, he hinted that Nike will continue to pursue the potential competitive benefits afforded by customised athlete products.

"It's an extension of who they are," he said. "I think that would give them both a physical advantage, but also a psychological and emotional advantage – that this is just an extension of my anatomy, it's my movement signature, it's my body being amplified with these products."

"I think what AIR represents is a step change in the way we design and manufacture."

Technology such as AI, virtual reality (VR) and 3D printing is an important part of this shift, according to Hoke, as it drastically expedites the prototyping process.

"There's this larger idea of quantum creativity of the future, which is being able to take in vast amounts of information, and use new technologies to do things very quickly," he said.

"So you sort of balance the velocity and the fidelity right here. And what usually takes weeks or months to show an athlete now takes hours. So they're really engaged because they're either seeing it in VR or we're sending them a 3D print, we're showing them on-screen."

AI is "rocket fuel for creativity"

Generative AI refers to AI models that create different types of content – such as text, images, video and code – by extrapolating from data they have been trained on.

Nike's investment may be seen as a vote of confidence in the technology after generative AI went through a process of extreme market excitement, followed by concern about implications for the creative industries and increasing scepticism from some experts in 2023.

"I don't think in our case of designers, it ever replaces creativity," said Hoke. "I think it is certainly rocket fuel for creativity. It certainly expands my own imagination to be able to do and see things in minutes and seconds versus weeks and months."

"And I've got to come to this equilibrium, where I think it's an amazing tool guided by a human's imagination," he added. "It's idle until you engage it."

Most of the doubts around the usefulness of generative AI revolve around models' tendency to make errors, known as hallucinations.

"For me, as a designer, I'm unafraid of that," said Hoke. "I think it's part of the magic of being able to stand back and discern what's coming at you."

"Errors and hallucinations don't scare me here. I think it's a different way of looking and it opens the aperture of my own creativity."

Other notable advocates of using generative AI in design are Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher and Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky.

Meanwhile, Australian design practice Studio Snoop last year unveiled Tilly Talbot, a specialised LLM that it branded "the world's first AI designer".

All imagery is courtesy of Nike.

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German designer Sebastian Herkner believes there are fewer opportunities for young designers to work with furniture brands today than when he was first starting out in the industry.

Herkner told Dezeen that brands are less willing to take a chance on an unproven talent than in the past, making it harder than ever for younger designers to get a foot in the door.

"I wouldn't want to be a young designer today," he said.

"When I was young, brands like Cappellini and Moroso were always looking for young talents," he continued. "But now, a lot of brands are only working with established names or designers already in their portfolio."

Herkner spoke to Dezeen during an event hosted by Italian brand Poltrona Frau. He has just launched his first products with the brand – the Stock'n Roll bedside tables and the Nymph table lamps.

The designer said that brands typically reach out to him to initiate a collaboration, based on his existing reputation.

Based in Offenbach, near Frankfurt, Herkner's studio has developed furniture, lighting and homeware products for producers including &Tradition, La Manufacture, Thonet and Pulpo.

"It has been more than 15 years since I started my business," he said. "Now I'm established, brands know me. So the starting point for a conversation is much easier."

Brands are "not really looking for new ideas"

One of the biggest challenges for unestablished designers, according to Herkner, is that global political and economic uncertainty has led design brands to become less averse to taking risks.

"Because of the unique situation at the moment, first with Covid, then everything else going on in the world, a lot of companies think it's better to put their efforts and belief in established designers rather than young designers," he suggested.

"They are not really looking for new ideas and I think that's a problem for the young generation."

Herkner believes that Salone Satellite – the section of the Salone del Mobile furniture fair dedicated to young designers – is still one of the best ways for new talent to gain recognition.

He exhibited at Satellite three times, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. This led to a collaboration with De Vorm, which put his Clip Chair into production in 2011, but most notably caught the attention of Moroso creative director, Patrizia Moroso.

Moroso launched its first collection designed by Herkner, the woven Bask baskets, bowls and tables, in 2012. The woven Banjooli furniture was launched the following year, followed by the Pipe collection in 2015.

Salone Satellite "still one of the best platforms"

"Salone Satellite is still one of the best platforms for young designers, but they still need the trust from brands to start a conversation," Herkner said.

"Brands need to be brave enough to start with someone who is not known at all."

Herkner believes there is another option available to young designers today that was less viable in the past – many are launching their own brands and producing products themselves.

This can be a good way to gain exposure, said the designer, but it comes with challenges.

"It's great to see these new brands popping up, but you need to have the finances to develop prototypes," he said. "Maybe that's the only way forward that young designers see at the moment."

Herkner's studio launched several new products in Milan this year. Others included the Petal pendants for Rakumba Lighting, the Sinya and Stolac tables for Zanat, and a new straw marquetry version of his Bell Table for Classicon.

The designer was also recently a mentor for the second RIMOWA Design Prize, a competition championing student designers in Germany.

His advice to young designers is to look for opportunities for repeat exposure, either by participating in exhibitions like Satellite several times or by getting your work published on platforms like Dezeen.

"You need companies to keep seeing your name, your face, so they start to follow you," he added.

The portrait of Sebastian Herkner is courtesy of Studio Sebastian Herkner.

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Furniture brand Takt has begun using a new kind of lifecycle assessment for its products that was devised by the European Commission and considers a product's full impact on nature and human health.

The company claims its Cross Chair is the "first furniture product" to receive the European Commission's Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) single score – a single number based on how the product scores in 16 different environmental impact categories.

This scoring system will now be rolled out for the brand's entire catalogue, replacing the carbon footprint that sustainability-focused furniture companies like Takt and Vestre have started listing alongside their products.

"PEF analysis is rigorous in its scope and process," said Takt founder Henrik Taudorf Lorensen. "And, I believe, it is currently the best standard we have for holding companies to their stated environmental commitments."

"Just because carbon is low, it doesn't mean impact is low — materials boasting minimal carbon footprints could leave a devastating trail of toxins or excessive water usage in their wake."

Based on a method set out by the European Commission, the PEF score evaluates 16 categories that go beyond the narrow focus on climate change to include global and local impacts such as water use, particulate matter, resource and land use, ozone depletion and human toxicity.

The categories are converted into a common reference unit based on the environmental impacts of an average global person over one year.

Weighted according to their urgency and impact, the results are combined to achieve a comparable PEF single score that reflects the product's overall environmental performance.

"We are pioneering the use of PEF reporting because we believe the bigger picture of environmental impact it provides is a fairer, more transparent way of sharing information with customers and a better roadmap for achieving our low-impact ambitions," said Taudorf Lorensen.

Takt worked with Danish lifecycle screening company Målbar to create a "product screening tool" to calculate the PEF score for its products, before having the results independently verified by certification body Bureau Veritas.

In the case of the Cross Chair, designed by British studio Pearson Lloyd, this analysis took into account its use of FSC-certified wood, a fully certified supply chain and a design that allows for carbon-efficient flatpack delivery and simple disassembly so parts can be replaced, earning a PEF score of 0.0025.

"The total derived from adding these all together provides a consistent measurement across all categories of product, from microchips to cargo ships, allowing for more meaningful comparisons," said Taudorf Lorensen.

It will also enable the company to identify areas where its environmental performance could be improved and take necessary actions.

The use of PEF reporting is in line with Takt's commitment to "radical transparency", which ensures users have as much information as possible about a product's environmental impact.

In 2021, Henrik Taudorf Lorensen told Dezeen Takt was on track to achieve net-zero emissions 20 years ahead of targets set out in the Paris climate change agreement.

At that time, it claimed to be the only design brand to consistently have all of its products certified with the EU Ecolabel.

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Rental platform Airbnb has announced the addition of its Icons program, a category that provides a range of experiences including a stay in the house from Pixar's Up and an overnight stay in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris.

The first 11 Icons experiences include recreations of houses from popular culture, such as the floating house from Pixar's film Up, and visits with celebrities, such as a night out with comic Kevin Hart.

The 11 Icons include a full-scale model of the house from Pixar's Up, which will be suspended by a crane – though not when guests are inside it – to a stay in the clock tower of Paris's Musee D' Orsay.

This was transformed into a bedroom by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and will be available for the opening of the upcoming summer Olympics.

The experiences will be awarded to guests through a selection process, with approximately eight additional Icon experiences being rolled out throughout the year to join the first batch. Each Icon is free or under $100 (£80).

"Icons take you inside worlds that only existed in your imagination – until now," said Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky. "As life becomes increasingly digital, we're focused on bringing more magic into the real world. With Icons, we've created the most extraordinary experiences on Earth."

The launch follows the platform's release of recreations of Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse and Shrek's swampland cottage, as well as previous overnight experiences in an Ikea showroom and the last remaining Blockbuster.

"These experiences captured people's imagination and they allowed people to step into someone else's world," said Chesky. "And at its best, this is what Airbnb does. And what it's always been about."

To create the spaces, the brand employed a variety of strategies. In the case of the Up house, it was built from scratch, while other properties were renovated or outfitted with a particular theme such as the X-Mansion from the X-Men movie series or Prince's Purple Rain house.

"The Up house is one of the most iconic homes in any film ever," said Chesky. "You're gonna be able to stay in Carl and Ellie's home and it will feel like you're stepping inside the movie."

"This is a real house we built from scratch. We had to literally paint every detail in the home to match the exact Pantone colours used in the film, from the roof tiles to the siding," he continued.

For the X-Mansion, the team searched for a home in Upstate New York that looked like an approximation of the house from the movie series and then covered the interior in comic-strip style illustrations by artist Joshua Vides.

According to Airbnb VP of design Teo Connor, it took approximately two weeks for Vides and his team to hand-paint each room.

"Each Icon has a different timeline because they're all so unique, so different," Connor told Dezeen. "[There was] a huge amount of effort to bring these things to life and I think it really shows."

"With these types of things, we're really wanting to immerse you in a world and for it to feel authentic," she continued.

Other Icons include a stay at the Ferrari museum in a custom-made circular bed that is surrounded by various Ferrari models and a visit to Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor's "childhood oasis" in India.

To visit the various experiences, travellers must submit a written entry through Airbnb during a timed submission period. 4,000 guests will be selected and awarded a "golden ticket" to attend the experiences over the coming year.

The brand also released several updates in order to make booking and organizing group trips easier for travellers, including multiple users being able to message the host and a ranking system when selecting a rental together.

Last year, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky warned against designers failing to embrace AI and announced a program that called to designers and creatives to rent out their spaces for supplemental income.

The photography is courtesy of Airbnb.

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A mix of faculty, students and non-affiliated practitioners in the fields of architecture and design have signed a petition calling for a boycott of Columbia University after its treatment of students protesting the war in Gaza.

The petition was launched under the moniker Architects and Planners Against Apartheid and calls "to boycott all academic events at Columbia University as a whole" and particularly Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and Barnard Architecture, the liberal arts college that shares the campus.

The petition was launched after the New York City university called in police in response to student protests, which began in mid-April, and have since spread to universities all over the United States.

 

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A post shared by Kabage Karanja (@kabage_karanja)

Kabage Karanja shared the petition on Instagram

The architect-specific petition follows a general one signed by thousands of sympathetic academics.

A week after the petition was signed and sent to Columbia, the protests culminated in the NYPD clearing the campus of protest encampments and clearing an academic building that had been "seized" by the protestors, according to the New York Times, leading to dozens of arrests early Wednesday morning.

"Many faculty within the department are extremely supportive of the course and the students with the encampment and initiatives that are ongoing," Nairobi-based architect and adjunct assistant professor at GSAPP Kabage Karanja told Dezeen.

Kabage, who is a signatory on the petition, which includes more than 180 names, shared a post promoting the petition on Instagram after Wednesday morning's police actions. He said that Architects and Planners Against Apartheid is a group that has come together to "express our solidarity with the cause to free Palestine".

Concern over brutality towards students

"We are only emphasizing this deep concern of the extent of brutality that's being put forward against those students," he continued.

"I think the key request was for a sit down to discuss these matters," said Karanja, referring to the students' request that Columbia divest from companies profiting from the war in Gaza.

He believes that the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza is the key concern of students, and said that architects have a key role to play in protesting the war.

"We, beyond any profession, are front and centre within the conflict, because more often than not architectural buildings, from universities to hospitals to homes, are the targets and the people within those, most of whom are innocent," said Karanja.

He added that many of the professors at the university were signatories on a 2021 petition that called for "supporting student, faculty and staff activism for justice in Palestine" – a petition that was signed by now-dean of GSAPP Andres Jacques.

Destruction and disruption says Columbia

Columbia has maintained that its decision to call on the police was justified, citing damage to property to structures in the private institution and anti-semitic sentiments among the protestors.

"Today's protesters are also fighting for an important cause, for the rights of Palestinians and against the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. They have many supporters in our community and have a right to express their views and engage in peaceful protest," said university president Minouche Shafik in a statement yesterday.

"But students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of destruction, not political speech. Many students have also felt uncomfortable and unwelcome because of the disruption and antisemitic comments made by some individuals, especially in the protests that have persistently mobilized outside our gates."

Dezeen has reached out to Columbia University for comment on the Architects and Planners Against Apartheid petition.

The top photograph is via Shutterstock. Comments have been turned off on this story due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter.

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UK architecture studio Foster + Partners has been granted planning approval for office and residential development 18 Blackfriars Road, which the studio claims will be net-zero carbon.

Located on a two-acre brownfield site in London's Bankside, 18 Blackfriars Road will contain two residential blocks and a 45-storey office skyscraper.

Foster + Partners claimed the project would have the lowest whole-life carbon of any London high-rise development when it submitted its application, which has recently been approved by Southwark Council.

"[18 Blackfriars Road] will feature London's lowest whole-life carbon high-rise, which also aims to be the first to achieve the WELL Community Gold rating," said Foster + Partners head of studio Nigel Dancey.

"We are incredibly proud to be part of this pioneering vision for Southwark."

Designed in collaboration with developers Hines and Lipton Rogers, Foster + Partners claims the development will be 100 per cent electric and net zero carbon in operation.

18 Blackfriars Road will also have ground-source heat pumps generating 95 per cent of the development's heating needs, according to the studio.

Two residential blocks measuring 22 and 40 storeys tall will contain 400 homes, 40 per cent of which will be affordable housing.

A skyscraper on the development will contain offices designed to be naturally lit and with access to outdoor terraces on every third level.

There will also be affordable workspace and assembly rooms for the local community, play areas for children and a public plaza at the centre of the development with shopping and food areas.

"The new neighbourhood aspires to define the office of the future, with flexible floorplates for longevity and cascading green terraces, which bring a social dimension to the workplace," said Dancey.

Strips of terracotta-coloured cladding will decorate the buildings, running vertically down the glazed facades of the skyscraper and horizontally on the residential blocks.

Foster + Partners plans to increase biodiversity on the site by 150 per cent through various methods, including planting around one hundred trees.

The studio hopes to transform the site, which it says has been undeveloped for 20 years, into a thriving work and living hub that is connected to the local community.

"We have designed a healthy, mixed-use development that plugs into and seeks to significantly enhance the existing urban fabric," said Dancey.

"The project will provide new homes, offices, retail and a wide range of cultural and community facilities to bring this dormant site back to life."

"Vibrant new public spaces are central to the design concept, connecting with a cycle highway and a number of public transport interchanges to encourage car-free travel," Dancey added.

Other designs recently unveiled by Foster + Partners include an office tower in Hollywood wrapped with spiralling terraces and a tiered supertall skyscraper in New York.

The images are by Foster + Partners.

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American studio Manica Architecture and National Football League team Chicago Bears have unveiled the design of a football stadium along Lake Michigan in Chicago, drawing criticism from preservationists.

Manica Architecture designed the multi-purpose recreational campus – featuring a stadium enclosed with a translucent roof – to bring a variety of concerts, community celebrations, and sporting events to the Windy City's downtown, to replace the Bears' current home at Soldier Field.

"The transformative project will increase public open and green space, providing Chicago's families a safe place to gather and play," the Kansas City-based studio said in a press release.

"The recreational campus anchored by the new state-of-the-art stadium will enhance the existing vitality of downtown, increase connectedness to the adjacent museums, and attract residents and visitors alike to a more vibrant and dynamic cultural destination that can be enjoyed throughout the year."

Similar to the studio's designs of the Las Vegas Raiders' Allegiant Stadium and the upcoming Tennessee Titan's Nissan Stadium, the renderings depict an oblong stadium with a bubbled glass roof. The arena will be surrounded by planted green space and pedestrian access that connects the venue to the neighbouring marina and public transit station.

A multi-story glass wall will open the north end zone to a large public plaza and a view of the Chicago skyline.

The stadium and associated campus improvements will be "one of the largest construction projects in Illinois history," while the stadium and associated improvements will "add open space, improve accessibility, and provide Chicago families and tourists a safe place to gather year-round", according to the architecture studio.

However, the design and necessity of the new stadium have faced objections from the community.

It has an estimated to cost over $4.2 billion, with the sports franchise committing to contribute over $2 billion with additional prospective contributions from the NFL and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. The remainder of the funding, approximately $1.5 billion, could be drawn from state taxpayers – a financial priority doubted by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker following the Bears' announcement.

The studio maintained that the proposal's public-private partnership will "create increased revenue streams that can be used for underfunded city and state programs," while the magnitude of the facility will drive tourism and economic image to the area.

Friends of the Parks, a Chicago-based preservation group, questioned the selection of the potential site and the future of Soldier Field, a nearly 100-year-old, open-air sporting and military landmark whose tiered seating is noticeably missing in the unveiled renderings.

"We are already a great city – in large part due to our protected lakefront," said the group.

"As is so often the case in Chicago, the powerful and wealthy are demanding that our entire city stop and fast-track their plans to expand operations on the people's lakefront."

According to the plan, sports fields and greens will replace the Bears' current home upon completion of the new stadium.

"Soldier Field will be restored to its original grandeur with open athletic fields for community use," Manica Architecture said. "The historic colonnade, honoring the military men and women who have served our country, will be preserved and publicly accessible."

At the moment, Manica expects to break ground in the summer of 2025, with an opening slated for 2028.

In February, Manica Architecture's sleek black design for Nevada's Allegiant Stadium hosted Super Bowl 58. Also in the sporting world, last year HOK unveiled a "futuristic" design for the renovation of the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium in Florida, surrounded by a fritted glass membrane.

The renderings were provided by Manica Architecture.

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British furniture retailer Habitat has revealed its 60th-anniversary collection, which features collaborations with emerging designers alongside revived archive pieces like the chicken brick.

Furniture and homeware by established designers including Sebastian Conran, Margo Selby and Tord Boontje populate Habitat's colourful 60 Years of Design collection, as well as work by newer talent such as furnituremaker Planq, ceramicist Silvia Kamodyová and artist Simone Brewster.

Novel designs rub shoulders with re-released classics in the collection from Habitat, which is an icon of British affordable design but has had a tumultuous recent history of buy-outs and store closures.

Among the revived archive products is the chicken brick from 1964 –  a ceramic oven dish for steam cooking and a classic from Habitat's first year in business – updated with a matte black glaze.

Also back on the roster are the modernist-inspired 1970s Scoop chair and 2004's Ribbon light – a table lamp made of folded and powder-coated sheet steel, which according to Habitat has become a collectible.

Some of the new designs also nod to Habitat's past.

Kamodyová referenced the 1980s Graffiti sofa in the colourful markings of her ceramics while the Lattice wire chair by Habitat designer Will Hudson is based on the wicker cone chairs of the 1970s and his bright red Akari four-poster bed was inspired by early Habitat catalogues.

Other highlights include the metal Lucinda garden furniture, which has precise cut-outs intended to cast captivating shadows, and Planq's XY60 coffee and side tables with surfaces made from recycled denim waste and legs in bright pops of blue or yellow.

Habitat designer D'arby Mawson's Cayan salt and pepper grinders look like a sculptural version of a wooden stacking game, while Brewster's bold-hued rugs are based on her own hand-paintings of the female form.

Sebastian Conran's contribution is a series of four lighting designs – including one inspired by the bulbous shapes of the Michelin Man – while Felix Conran designed mirrors with the gently contoured lines of river stones and Selby applied her graphic pattern designs to a range of textiles and bedding.

Habitat's head of design Andrew Tanner said that the brand's 60th anniversary offered an opportunity for the team to "look back and celebrate the last sixty years of Habitat's rich heritage".

"It's allowed us to reimagine classics from decades past for how we live now, as well as conceive new and thoughtful pieces that we hope will become collectables and represent the next generation of design," he said.

Habitat was founded in 1964 by Terence Conran, the highly influential British designer and retailer who also founded The Conran Shop, Benchmark Furniture and London's Design Museum.

In its first three decades, it helped to revolutionise British home decor tastes with its modern, clean-lined and European-inspired furniture and homewares.

But since then, the company has struggled and was sold three times over – first to IKEA in 1992, then to restructuring company Hilco in 2009 and finally to the Home Retail Group in 2011, which now largely sells the brand's products through its Sainsbury's and Argos stores and online.

However, contrary to Elle Decoration editor Michelle Ogundehin's proclamation that the brand was "as good as dead" after the last sale and Conran's own observation that his "love child, Habitat, appears to be dying", the company has persevered.

Tanner expressed optimism for Habitat's future and said that the company is in a better position now than ever before to create products that are true to its vision.

"Habitat has always championed great design and was founded on the concept of quality homeware that turns heads," Tanner told Dezeen. "We want to continue to be known for this moving forward. We are able, like never before, to create design-led products that are accessible and affordable to all."

Other highlights from Habitat's past include the first collection of former creative director Polly Dickens in 2012, which aimed to take the brand back to its "original Conran days" after the takeovers, and a VIP for Kids range that touted designs by the likes of actors Kate Winslet and Daniel Radcliffe.

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A wooden structure will be left exposed throughout this children's daycare centre at the Technical University of Munich, on which Berlin-based studio Kéré Architecture has started construction in Germany.

Named Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM, the centre will sit beside the university's cafeteria and be open to children with parents or carers who work on campus.

The 700-square-metre centre's focal points will be exposed wooden surfaces, as well as rooms linked by slides and a rooftop play area that Kéré Architecture has named Himmelswiese, or Field of the Heavens.

"When we build for the little ones, we want them to be able to run around outside and feel the elements," said the studio's founder Diébédo Francis Kéré.

Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM is set to open at Technical University of Munich (TUM) at the end of 2025 with space for 60 children.

Once complete, it will be wrapped by a facade of wooden slats, which Kéré Architecture designed to reflect "the playful energy" of its users.

There will be five levels, including ground-floor administration areas and the children's play areas on the middle three levels, organised by age group.

The top floor will be a rooftop play area, which will be partly covered and offer views out over Munich.

Kéré Architecture designed the building with a structure made predominantly from timber in an effort to reduce its embodied carbon – the emissions caused by the extraction and processing of materials as well as the construction process. It is being developed in collaboration with Austrian studio Hermann Kaufmann + Partner.

"We wanted to take the sustainability of the building to the extreme and build it entirely out of wood," said Kéré.

Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM will be complete with a green roof, which is hoped to evolve into a "giant meadow" spaning the neighbouring buildings as part of the project.

"I would also like to colonise the neighboring roofs, starting by connecting our building with the roof of the cafeteria and turning that into a giant meadow," said Kéré.

Kéré founded his eponymous studio in Berlin in 2005. In 2022, he was named the winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and in 2023 he was listed among Time's 100 most influential climate leaders.

Other recent projects by his studio include a community centre in Uganda and a Kenyan education campus informed by termite mounds.

The renders are courtesy of Kéré Architecture.

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The steel-framed Study Pavilion by architects Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke has been named Europe's best new building, winning the Mies van der Rohe Award.

Düsing and Hacke, who founded their eponymous studios in 2015 and 2016 respectively, are the youngest people to have ever received the biennial accolade, also known as the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture or EUmies Award.

The gridded Study Pavilion was created for the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany as a campus building containing flexible spaces for studying and socialising.

It won the prize for "its ability to challenge the constraints and imagery of sustainability, creating a welcoming and playful environment for study, collaboration and community gathering through an uncompromising and carefully detailed structure," according to the award announcement.

"It has taken a clear architectural idea, scrutinised it and pushed it to the limit," the announcement continued. "More than being a building, it could be understood as a versatile system, merging technological inventions with a flexible and reusable principle."

The Study Pavilion has a hybrid steel-wood structure organised in a three-by-three metre grid of columns and beams, wrapped with fully glazed facades.

Study spaces are spread across an open-plan ground floor and a mezzanine level, with sound-absorbing yellow curtains that can be drawn to create separated zones.

The university building was selected as the winner from a list of 362 nominated projects. Among the finalists were a school in Spain with zigzagging shapes animating the facade, a renovated 15th-century convent and a slaughterhouse that was transformed into an art gallery.

The Mies van der Rohe Award also announced Spanish studio SUMA Arquitectura as the winner of the Emerging Architecture prize for its design of the Gabriel García Márquez Library in Barcelona.

The library has a geometric form with chamfered edges and an interior organised around a triangular atrium.

"The library acts at the scale of the city, contributing to the transformation of the neighbourhood by opening up as a new exterior and interior public space," said the award announcement.

"This wooden structure unfolds as a rich sequence of monumental and domestic spaces that welcome neighbours and citizens, providing them with comfortable atmospheres for learning, teamwork, and community engagement," it continued.

"With meticulous attention to detail, the authors have thoroughly examined and pushed the library programme to its fullest potential."

Founded in Barcelona in 1988, the biennial Mies van der Rohe Award seeks to recognise the best architecture projects in Europe.

This year's jury wanted to emphasise "the significance of architecture that explores the potential to shift mindsets and policies, as well as the importance of fostering inclusivity," according to the organisers.

Irish studio Grafton Architects was the recipient of the 2022 Mies van der Rohe Award for a university building named Town House. It was the last-ever UK-based project to win the award since the country is no longer eligible to enter after Brexit.

Past winners also include a 1960s social housing renovation in France, which received the prize in 2019, and the 2017 winner was a renovated apartment block in Amsterdam.

The photography is by Leonhard Clemens unless stated.

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The windmill sails of the Moulin Rouge, an iconic 135-year-old cabaret venue in Paris, collapsed to the ground in the early hours.

Just before 2am this morning, the four blades attached to a red-painted windmill on top of the Moulin Rouge venue fell off and landed bent in front of the building, according to newspaper The Guardian.

Blades atop Paris landmark Moulin Rouge windmill collapse overnight
https://t.co/8o98mZ6FRh pic.twitter.com/cTJa8BjM4h

— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) April 25, 2024

The windmill sails of the Moulin Rouge have fallen off

The letters M, O and U from the front sign also appear to have fallen, according to photos of the building posted on X, formerly Twitter. Firefighters were called to the area and no one was injured.

It is not yet known why the sails fell off.

The Moulin Rouge later took to Instagram to say the venue would stay open and the Thursday evening show would go ahead as planned "to keep the Parisian party spirit alive".

Located in Paris's 18th arrondissement, the red windmill and its sails made from wood and metal have come to be a tourist destination in the city.

According to the Moulin Rouge's Instagram post, windmill sails have been turning on the building for 135 years, since its opening.

The collapsed sails were reportedly rebuilt 20 years ago to make them lighter and were checked every two months.

Les joies d’aller bosser à 3h : se retrouver nez à nez avec l’hélice du moulin rouge tombée par terre pic.twitter.com/Xi9zI0TJHu

— Adélaïde Malavaud (@AMalavaud) April 25, 2024

The sails collapsed to the ground and bent

The cabaret venue, which is famously home to the French can-can dance, opened in 1889. It was destroyed in a fire in 1915 and didn't reopen again until 10 years later.

Paris is expecting an increase in tourists this summer as it prepares to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

French studio Chatillon Architectes recently unveiled its progress on the renovation of the Grand Palais, which will host fencing and taekwondo events for the games, and winning athletes can expect to walk away with a piece of the Eiffel Tower in their medals.

The top photo is by Dietmar Rabich via Wikimedia Commons.

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Unprotected modernist houses are at risk of demolition as land often holds greater value than architectural heritage, says conservation group Docomomo US in response to actor Chris Pratt tearing down a home by architect Craig Ellwood.

Pratt and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger drew attention online when news broke that the couple had begun work on a 15,000-square-foot home in place of the Zimmerman House by Ellwood, who designed buildings in Los Angeles from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s.

Located in the Brentwood area, across the street from a house owned by Schwarzenegger's mother, the Zimmerman House was completed in 1950 and was one of Ellwood's earliest projects.

It was demolished by Pratt and Schwarzenegger, who wanted to make use of the land for a sprawling mansion.

Docomomo US executive director Liz Waytkus claims the demolition of the mid-century home is part of a wider issue of sought-after land and location taking priority over the significance of historic homes.

"The problem is systemic," she told Dezeen. "Older mid-century homes are smaller and underbuilt for their plots of land."

"The land has become more valuable than the house, and even if people understand the value of such a home, location and land value often trump architectural significance."

The Zimmerman House was a one-storey home with original landscaping by Garrett Eckbo, which was also destroyed in the demolition.

The house was sold to Pratt at the end of last year. In a video taken at the home's estate sale in 2020, which was recently shared on Tiktok, its structure and original fixtures appeared to be in good condition.

Waytkus likened the Zimmerman House demolition to the loss of the Geller I house in Long Island by modernist architect Marcel Breuer, which was torn down in January 2022.

She stressed that Docomomo US works to educate people on the history of homes like these, striving for the best outcomes for historic homes without treading on individual private property rights.

The group is currently working with the Southampton Village Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation on the protection of five homes in Southampton, Long Island, including a 1979 house designed by architect Norman Jaffe, which the original owner plans to demolish.

Waytkus expressed that conversations with property owners are important to protect the legacy of historic homes and at the very least, have them properly documented.

"We are reasonable people and would have appreciated the property owners having a conversation with community leaders such as Docomomo US/SoCal and the Los Angeles Conservancy in [the Zimmerman House] case, before pulling the demolition permit," Waytkus said.

"At a minimum, some elements could have been retained or reused and the property should have been documented."

"The homeowners also could have avoided this negative publicity by extending the opportunity for communication and collaboration with our community," she added. "We are always open to having those conversations."

Non-profit preservation group Los Angeles Conservancy flagged the planned demolition of the Zimmerman House in January, but no protections were made.

In 2022, Waytkus wrote that the demolition of Breuer's Geller I house should be a wake-up call to protect modern buildings, which was followed up by Docomomo's selection of 11 significant 20th-century buildings at risk of demolition in the US.

The photography is by Julius Shulman via Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.

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Car company Tesla has issued a recall of nearly all Cybertrucks sold to date, following reports of its accelerator pad becoming stuck at "full throttle".

The recall applies to 3,878 vehicles produced between 13 November and 4 April, when Tesla started utilising soap as a lubricant to aid assembly in an "unapproved change" to the manufacturing process, according to a report from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Association.

In at least two reported cases, residues of this lubricant caused the accelerator pad to detach from its pedal and become trapped in the car's interior trim, causing unwanted acceleration.

"It held the accelerator down 100 per cent at full throttle," one driver describes in a video that seems to demonstrate the issue.

This can "increase the risk of a collision" according to the NHTSA, although a fallback mechanism built into the car ensures that its break can override the accelerator and bring the car to a stop.

No reported crashes

So far, Tesla says it has not received any reports of accidents, injuries or deaths caused by the issue.

Cybertruck deliveries were temporarily paused at the beginning of April due to the fault but have now resumed with a new accelerator pedal.

Owners of the 3,878 Cybertrucks affected by the recall – which, according to TechCrunch, is nearly all of them sold to date – will have to bring their cars into a service centre for a free repair.

Tesla's Cybertruck has been marred in controversy since the concept was first unveiled in 2019, with critics decrying it as "ridiculous" and "dystopian".

Since deliveries started last December, some owners have also complained of rust and a lack of pinch sensors in the doors, which could lead to injuries.

At the end of last year, Tesla also had to issue a recall on most of its other vehicles due to problems with its Autopilot system, which have since been resolved via a software update.

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A dwelling with a "tin hat" by Nimtim Architects and a colourful extension by Charles Holland are among the 16 London homes named on the shortlist for this year's Don't Move, Improve! competition.

A triangular house in a former garage by studio Brown Urbanism is also on the shortlist, alongside an extension by Cairn that is the first structure in the UK to be built from a low-carbon cement called LC3.

It is the fourteenth edition of the annual awards programme, hosted by New London Architecture (NLA), which aims to celebrate "the diversity of homes across the capital" – specifically those that have been renovated or extended.

NLA's head of content Federico Ortiz hopes that the 2024 shortlist will become a useful resource for people in the city looking to improve their homes.

"The shortlist for Don't Move, Improve! 2024 is an extraordinary showcase of innovation and creativity, offering a unique resource for Londoners who want to reimagine their living spaces and keep calling their neighbourhoods home," said Ortiz.

Other projects on the list include the pink-hued Aden Grove by Emil Eve, the light-filled Apartment with a Mezzanine by Office Ten Architecture and the renovation of the 1960s Chelsea Brut by Pricegore.

Whittaker Parsons' wood-lined Flitch Cottage extension also made the cut, alongside The Green Machine by Suprblk Studio and Heyford Avenue by Manuel Urbina Studio.

Other extensions up for the prize include one in Stoke Newington by VATRAA and the Perforated House by Novak Hiles Architects in Wandsworth, which is named after its perforated brickwork.

The final four projects competing this year are Two-Up Two-Down House by Khan Bonshek, Wimbledon Villa by Gundry + Ducker, Jacob's Flat by Paul Archer Design and Hillside House by Mike Tuck Studio.

The projects were shortlisted from over 150 entries by a jury made up of urban design manager at London Borough of Camden Ed Jarvis, architecture director of Wallpaper* magazine Ellie Stathaki, David Kohn Architects associate Jennifer Dyne and Hilson Moran sustainability director Marie-Louise Schembri.

The jury highlighted the standout trends for 2024 as the use of sustainable materials, bold colour palettes and cost-efficient solutions.

This year's overall winner will be revealed at a ceremony on 14 May at The London Centre, alongside other prizes including the People's Choice Award, which is now open for voting.

Last year's overall winner was The Secret Garden Flat, designed by Nic Howett Architect to feel "like an oasis" in the city.

Other winners included Low Energy House by Architecture for London, which took home the Environmental Leadership Prize, and CLT House by Unknown Works, which received the Unique Character Prize.

Scroll down to see all 16 shortlisted projects:

Aden Grove by Emil Eve

Apartment with a Mezzanine by Office Ten Architecture

Chelsea Brut by Pricegore

Flitch Cottage by Whittaker Parsons

The Green Machine by Suprblk Studio

Heyford Avenue by Manuel Urbina Studio

Hillside House by Mike Tuck Studio

House extension in Stoke Newington by VATRAA

A House in East London by Charles Holland Architects

House Made by Many Hands by Cairn

Jacob's Flat by Paul Archer Design

Perforated House by Novak Hiles Architects

Tin Hat by Nimtim Architects

Triangle House by Brown Urbanism

Two-Up Two-Down House by Khan Bonshek

Wimbledon Villa by Gundry + Ducker

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Architects Lesley Lokko and Marina Tabassum have been named on the list of the 100 most influential people of 2024 by Time magazine.

The architects are included alongside world leaders, artists and sports stars in the annually published list of people the US magazine judges as the world's most influential.

Called a "force of nature" in her citation, Lokko is listed in the pioneers section of the list, while Tabassum, who is described as an architect who "cares for her creations", is included in the innovators section.

"Her extraordinary trajectory eviscerates the old world"

Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lokko curated last year's Venice Architecture Biennale and recently won the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. American filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who wrote her citation, said she was "dazzled by her brilliance and focus" when she met the architect.

In DuVernay's citation, she drew attention to the impact that Lokko was having on the architecture world.

"Her extraordinary trajectory eviscerates the old world that had maintained a dominant perspective in architecture – one that she calls 'a singular, exclusive voice, whose reach and power ignores huge swathes of humanity... as though we have been listening and speaking in one tongue only'," wrote DuVernay.

"Now, we hear hers. Lesley creates new landscapes to reimagine access and impact and vision and vibrant futures," she continued. "Her presence in the world of architecture is the very foundation upon which fresh perspectives and passions will flourish. She is indeed a force of nature. A force for change. A force for good."

Tabassum "prioritizes local cultures and values"

Bangladeshi architect Tabassum, who recently won the Soane Medal for architecture, was praised for her altruistic attitude to her work.

"Altruism isn't typically a term attributed to award-winning architects – a profession where signature has become a common adjective – but Marina Tabassum isn't typical," wrote Harvard Graduate School of Design dean Sarah Whiting in her citation.

"She has developed a practice and a way of being that prioritizes local cultures and values, as well as the perils faced by our shared planet."

She drew attention to her Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, which was one of the winners of the Aga Khan Award, as well as her work developing moveable prefabricated houses.

"She has developed houses that are cost-effective and easy to move – clearly, buildings shouldn't just breathe; they should avoid getting their feet wet," wrote Whiting. "While she practices very locally, she teaches, lectures, and is recognized internationally, modeling architecture not as an individual signature but as a collective Esperanto."

Lokko and Tabassum are the latest architects to be named on the Time 100 list, following Japanese architect Kengo Kuma in 2021, Jeanne Gang in 2019, Elizabeth Diller in 2018 and David Adjaye in 2017.

Last year the magazine named Burkinabè architect Diébédo Francis Kéré on its list of 100 most influential climate leaders.

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A height variance request for what is set to be the tallest skyscraper in the US located in Oklahoma City has been approved to move forward to the next stage.

The Oklahoma City Planning Commission has granted approval of a height increase request for Legends Tower, a proposed supertall skyscraper.

Architecture studio AO and developer Matteson Capital announced the proposal earlier this year, which sought to increase the original 1,750 feet (533 metres) tower to 1,907 feet (581 metres), unseating the 1,776-foot-tall (541 metres) SOM-designed One World Trade Center in New York.

A final vote is planned for the City Council in June, according to Matteson Capital.

If built, the tower will be the tallest in the US and the fifth tallest in the world.

"On behalf of AO, we are extremely pleased that the Oklahoma City Planning Commission has unanimously approved the requested unlimited height limit and has granted the development team the ability to negotiate on a comprehensive signage program for the Boardwalk at Bricktown," said AO managing partner Rob Budetti.

"This endorsement underscores our confidence in the vision and design of this landmark development, representing Oklahoma City's imminent transformation into a global destination and its bold stride towards the future."

It is part of the wider mixed-use development Boardwalk at Bricktown, which includes three approved 345-foot-tall (105 metre-tall) towers at its base, which house retail spaces.

Full funding at $1.5 billion was also recently secured for the project as of early March, according to the local news outlet The Oklahoman, with developer Scott Matterson estimating site preparation could begin as early as June.

"Upon completion, the Boardwalk at Bricktown will undoubtedly earn the city the recognition it deserves, setting a new standard for urban innovation and architectural excellence," said Budetti.

"We are excited about the positive impact this project will have on shaping the future of Oklahoma City."

Other recent supertall skyscrapers news include unveiled images of a Dolce & Gabbana-branded tower in Miami and the completion of Japan's tallest skyscraper by Pelli Clarke & Partners.

The images are by AO.

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The China Merchants Bank Headquarters by British architecture studio Foster + Partners has topped out in Shenzhen, with progress on a decorative ribbed steel and glass facade.

Images of the skyscraper's construction progress show the height of its structural core and facades made from steel and triangular glass panels taking shape around it.

Once complete, the upper portion of the 388-metre-tall building will have a staggered shape topped with landscaped terraces.

The north-facing facade will have a simple rectilinear form, while the south facade will feature rounded vertical sections covered in geometric glass panels, informed by shapes in traditional Chinese paper folding.

According to Foster + Partners head of studio Grant Brooker, the rounded facade details were designed to enhance the building's views of Shenzhen Bay.

"The building's wide curved windows offer spectacular views of Shenzhen Bay," he said. "Cut to reflect the light, they glisten in the sun and reflect movement in the sky above them."

"We want to capture the warmth of sunrise and sunset on the building's surface so that the appearance of the tower is constantly changing and never appears the same way twice," he continued.

Foster + Partners developed the decorative steel and glass facade through an iterative modelling process, factoring in passive systems such as natural lighting, solar shading, and thermal loads to minimise the reliance on active systems.

This, along with other passive lighting and ventilation strategies, was designed to create comfortable interior environments for those working in the building.

The studio also designed double-height atriums and landscaped terraces to provide breakout space connected to the offices.

"Optimal working conditions are achieved through low emission materials, effective temperature and humidity control, and glare mitigation," said Foster + Partners.

"Coupling the off-centre core layout with a unique natural ventilation detail in the column profiles allows for natural ventilation on all levels," it continued. "This high-quality indoor environment enhances staff wellbeing and improves productivity."

The China Merchants Bank Headquarters will form part of a wider development in Shenzhen Bay that is currently under construction.

A central axis will connect the skyscraper to a public park, and two plazas on either side will be surrounded by shops and restaurants.

Other skyscrapers designed by Foster + Partners include an office tower in Hollywood wrapped with spiralling terraces and a pair of residential skyscrapers in Dubai overlooking the bay.

The photography is by Zhang Chao unless stated.

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A fire has broken out at the 17th-century Børsen building in Copenhagen, Denmark, causing its iconic dragon tail-shaped spire to collapse.

The fire at the building, which was once the city's stock exchange, began early this morning with the 56-metre-tall spire collapsing around 8:30am local time.

Built in 1615, the Renaissance-style building is one of the most famous buildings in the Danish capital. The fire was described by the country's deputy prime minister Troels Lund Poulsen as "our own Notre-Dame moment".

The structure, which was topped by a spire resembling the tails of four dragons intertwined, is currently surrounded by scaffolding due to ongoing renovation work.

Børsen i København er i flammer.

Følg udviklingen her: https://t.co/KUXg6JjCZP pic.twitter.com/jdSlhvKLwi

— Berlingske (@berlingske) April 16, 2024

A fire has engulfed Copenhagen's old stock exchange

Culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said "400 years of Danish cultural heritage [are] in flames".

While the building no longer houses the stock exchange, it is currently the headquarters of the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

"We are met by a terrible sight," the Chamber of Commerce wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "The stock market is on fire. Everyone is asked to stay away from the area around Slotsholmen. The fire authorities are on the scene," it said.

Frygtelige billeder fra Børsen. Så trist. En ikonisk bygning, der betyder meget for os alle, tror jeg. Vores eget Notre Dame-øjeblik. pic.twitter.com/X0jWjfUFVc

— Troels Lund Poulsen (@troelslundp) April 16, 2024

The event has been described as Copenhagen's "own Notre Dame moment"

There are currently no reports of injuries but the nearby square is said to have been evacuated as thick smoke continues to rise from the structure. People have also been seen saving large paintings from the building, reported the Guardian.

Deputy prime minister Poulsen's comparison to Notre-Dame harks back to the fire that broke out there in 2019, causing the landmark cathedral's spire to collapse.

The news made international headlines and widespread speculation about the future of the building and its spire, with a flurry of designers offering proposals for a replacement.

However, French president Emmanuel Macron said he would ensure the building was rebuilt "identically" to how it was before the event. It is expected to reopen in 2025.

The event is also reminiscent of the second fire at Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art in 2018, which came as a major restoration led by architects Page\Park was underway. The works were being carried out to repair damage from the previous fire in 2014.

Four years later, the inquiry into the cause of the fire that destroyed the building failed to reach a conclusion due to insufficient evidence.

The main photo is by Dan Lundberg via Wikimedia Commons. 

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The Vessel viewpoint by Thomas Heatherwick is expected to reopen in New York this year, shrouded by steel netting to prevent people from jumping from its platforms.

It follows the closure of the structure in Hudson Yards in August 2021, after a 14-year-old boy became the fourth person to die there by suicide.

Related Companies, the developer behind Hudson Yards, has revealed that the Vessel is now due to reopen with more stringent suicide-prevention safety measures in place.

Vessel's highest platform to remain closed

This will include the installation of "floor-to-ceiling steel mesh" across half of the attraction's passable spaces, The New York Times has reported.

In addition, the highest level of the structure will remain permanently closed.

"Through a closely coordinated effort with Thomas Heatherwick and Heatherwick Studio, we have developed a plan to install floor-to-ceiling steel mesh on Vessel while also preserving the unique experience that has drawn millions of visitors from around the globe," a spokesperson for Hudson Yards told television station CBS New York.

The Vessel is a honeycomb-shaped viewpoint formed of 154 staircases that meet at 80 platforms. Heatherwick Studio designed it as the centrepiece of the Hudson Yards development.

Its closure in 2021 was not the first time it had to be shut off to the public. In January 2021, it was closed after the death of a 21-year-old man at the structure.

He was the third person to die there, following the suicides of a 24-year-old woman in December 2020 and a 19-year-old man in February 2019 shortly before the structure's official opening.

The Vessel had briefly reopened in May 2021 with updated safety measures that included a buddy system to prevent people from entering the attraction alone.

Safety concerns raised as early as 2016

Following its closure in August 2021, Related Companies chairman Stephen Ross said "we thought we did everything that would really prevent this" in an interview with the American news website The Daily Beast.

However, according to UK architecture magazine Architects' Journal, Heatherwick Studio had also proposed safety barriers in its design, but the plans were never implemented.

Concerns about safety of the structure were raised as early as 2016, such as when Audrey Wachs of the Architect's Newspaper said: "when you build high, folks will jump".

The Vessel has also attracted criticism over its appearance, for being privately funded and the fact that Hudson Yards owned the rights to photographs taken at the structure.

In a talk with Dezeen in 2019, Heatherwick defended the project, stating that people "shouldn't underestimate what it takes" to build public spaces with private money.

Two years after its closure, author Matt Shaw said "the Vessel shows us how bad the vampiric ultra-wealthy are at making public space" in an opinion piece for Dezeen.

International helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. In the USA, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-8255, while in the UK the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.

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Sportswear brand Nike has unveiled its new collection of elite footwear ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer, claiming that AI is sparking a "super cycle" of innovation.

The company has developed its Nike Air cushioning technology in four new designs as part of a collection called the Blueprint Pack.

Included are the Nike GT Hustle 3 basketball shoe, the 2024 Nike Mercurial football boot and the Nike Victory 2 and Nike Maxfly 2 spikes for sprinting and middle-distance track-running.

Nike chief design officer Martin Lotti said increased energy return – or bounce – provided by the improved Nike Air will be "the difference-maker" at this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted in Paris in July and August.

"The Olympics represents the biggest platform for sports – the athletes have been training all their lives to get ready for this," he told Dezeen. "Being in the sports industry, designing sports equipment for footwear and apparel, it's also our pinnacle moment."

"It's an amazing test for us every single time, to not only do new products, but new and better products, and that allows us to have an incredible platform to innovate and design and literally put our best foot forward."

Competition between brands to develop increasingly high-performance footwear for major sporting events has been intensifying in recent years – notably in marathon running with the so-called "super-shoe wars", where shoe development has roughly coincided with record-breaking run times.

The past decade has seen Nike focus primarily on lightweight foams and springboard-style carbon-fibre plates, but with the latest releases, it has turned to optimising its Air technology.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and improved digital modelling have enabled "a new super cycle of Air innovation that is driving better, faster, more efficient solutions" the brand said, as researchers can test more ways to apply the system than was previously possible.

Combined with Nike's vast bank of data taken from recording athletes in its research lab, that makes it possible to simulate how a footwear design will perform, react to load and weigh without the need to make a physical prototype, the brand explained.

While Nike has not disclosed any updates to its record-breaking marathon shoe the Alphafly 3 to mark the Paris games, it said advances in Nike Air are allowing the system to be applied to other specialist sport shoes in new ways.

For instance, it said its running spikes now have a flatter ground-facing profile to provide athletes with greater stability, while a double-layer of Nike Air Zoom in the Nike GT Hustle 3 affords better energy return to basketball players.

An ultra-thin four-millimetre Air Zoom layer in the 2024 Nike Mercurial, tweaked from the previous 2022 version, makes it easier for footballers to stop and accelerate on soft ground, according to the brand.

Nike Air – a pressurised air pocket embedded within the sole of shoes – was first used in the midsole of the Nike Tailwind running shoe in 1978 and has since featured across the manufacturer's entire footwear range.

The Blueprint Pack, which will be released to the public in July, features 13 shoes in total identified by a white, orange and blue colour scheme that Nike said was inspired by drawings in the sketchbooks of company co-founder Bill Bowerman.

Nike launched the products at an exhibition held in Paris's Palais Brongniart, where it erected giant statues of its sponsored athletes in front of the neoclassical building.

Also debuted were two new iterations of its Pegasus series of extra-cushioned running shoes.

One was the Nike Pegasus Premium, which Nike said uses its first "sculpted, visible Air Zoom unit", developed with the above-mentioned AI technology, to deliver more energy return than previous versions.

It also launched the Nike Pegasus 41, featuring an improved ReactX foam midsole compared with its predecessor that the brand said increases energy return while reducing the shoe's carbon footprint.

The two consumer-oriented shoes will be released in spring 2025 and June 2024 respectively. Among Nike's recent shoe releases is the Air Max Dn.

The photography is courtesy of Nike.

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An official report into the collapse of a 10-year-old mass-timber bridge in Norway in August 2022 has criticised the structure's design and construction.

Two drivers had to be rescued after the Tretten Bridge, over the Gudbrandsdalslågen river in the Øyer area of southern Norway, gave way as a heavy goods vehicle was crossing.

Completed in only 2012, the glulam-and-steel truss bridge was designed by Norwegian architecture studio Plan Arkitekter and engineering firm Norconsult for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA).

A recent report by the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority (NSIA) was critical of parties involved in the bridge's construction and management.

"The investigation has shown that inadequate caution was exercised in the planning, design, inspection and approval of Tretten Bridge, with respect to the risk factors linked to its unconventional design," the report said.

"A short construction period, span lengths and reuse of existing foundation were framework conditions for the planning of the bridge," it continued.

"These framework conditions, combined with the choice of material and a strong focus on aesthetics, contributed to the structure not being robust."

Failings over 2016 bridge collapse

An earlier report concluded that the bridge most likely collapsed as a result of block shear failure – a type of fracture – in one of its timber diagonal members that had become weak over time.

Tretten Bridge was designed while building regulations in Norway were in transition from a national system to European codes.

Provisions for this transitional period enabled the project to follow the older national standards, which unlike the Eurocodes did not account for block shear failure.

"In retrospect, all the involved parties can be criticised for selecting and accepting regulations that proved to have a serious shortcoming (block shear failure)," the NSIA said.

The report also dealt with investigations of Tretten Bridge carried out after the collapse of the similarly constructed Perkolo Bridge in 2016.

It found that despite "serious faults" being identified at Tretten Bridge around that time, little action was taken by the Norwegian roads authority.

"This represents a system failure in the NPRA, reflecting a lack of knowledge about block shear failure, as well as shortcomings in the bridge management system and risk management," the report said.

"The NSIA believes that Tretten Bridge should either immediately have been closed or traffic restrictions imposed in 2016 when finding over-utilisation in relation to block shear in several of the bridge's connections," it added.

Six safety recommendations have been issued based on the investigation, which the NSIA said provide lessons for relevant organisations in Norway and abroad.

These include reviewing the process for regulating and approving road-related structures and their materials in Norway and clarification of building regulations.

Tretten Bridge was 148 metres long and 10.5 metres wide, with a main span of 70 metres. A report produced by Plan Arkitekter and Norconsult in 2013 gave the bridge a life expectancy of 100 years.

"As far as the Accident Investigation Board is aware, there are no wooden and steel truss bridges in the world that are comparable to Tretten Bridge," said the NSIA report (translated from Norwegian).

"The bridge was special both in terms of span length and asymmetry, trusses in the same direction and the combination of wood and steel."

Aesthetics "not a governing topic"

The NPRA is currently undertaking steps to improve bridge safety. Four similar bridges to Tretten Bridge will reportedly be rebuilt following inspections carried out after its collapse.

Nine of 14 timber bridges that were closed following the incident remained shut or still had restrictions in place as of last month.

Plan Arkitetker has designed many of Norway's wooden bridges.

"If you read the conclusion from NSIA you will see that the collapse of the Tretten Bridge was caused by deficient regulations (national code) for building timber structures at the time of planning/construction," the studio's Yngve Aartun told Dezeen in a statement.

"When new regulations (Eurocode) in 2016 revealed a few critical weak joints nothing was done to improve these joints," he continued.

"The bridge had a normal time schedule for engineering and construction. The aesthetics was decided by structural and constructional considerations and not a governing topic to decide the structure in the planning process."

NPRA director general Ingrid Dahl Hovland said the authority is "well underway" with measures to address bridge safety.

"We are in the process of signing off on the first measures," she said. "We want to ensure that any nuances between the safety recommendations from NSIA and the package of measures are captured. This work has top priority."

Norconsult did not respond to a request for comment.

The photography is courtesy of the NSIA unless otherwise stated.

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London studio Mikhail Riches has shared visuals for Phase 5 in the regeneration of Park Hill estate in Sheffield, which will "tie together all the buildings and landscapes".

It will be the final stage of redevelopment at the brutalist Grade II*-listed complex, which has been underway since 2004, led by developer Urban Splash.

Phase 5 will create 200 square metres of commercial space and 105 homes, 20 per cent of which will be made into affordable housing, said Mikhail Riches.

Phase 5 will continue the studio's light-touch approach for Phase 2, which was focused on restoring the estate's "original beauty" and retaining as much of the existing building fabric as possible.

The studio is also adopting this strategy for Phase 4, which Mikhail Riches is currently undertaking alongside Phase 5 and which will create 124 homes and 450 square metres of commercial space.

However, Phase 5 will be set apart from these projects through the greater provision of "much-needed amenities" including more outdoor space for residents.

"This is one of the final phases at Park Hill, and so is an opportunity to tie together all the buildings and landscapes and ‘complete’ the estate again," said project architect Alim Saleh.

"It will provide much-needed amenities such as allotments and gardens for Park Hill residents," he told Dezeen.

Park Hill is a former social housing estate constructed between 1957 and 1961, designed by architects Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn for Sheffield City Council. It is best known for its "streets in the sky" typology and for being Europe's largest listed structure.

It began falling into a state of decline in the 1980s and its overhaul began in 2004 when Urban Splash won a contract to renovate it. This process has been divided into five phases.

The first phase was designed by studios Hawkins\Brown and Studio Egret West. It opened in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in the same year.

Phase 3 by Whittam Cox Architects, which was next to reach completion, involved transforming five flanks into student housing with a Le Corbusier-informed colour palette. This was followed by Phase 2 by Mikhail Riches, which is also leading Phase 4 and Phase 5.

The currently-vacant blocks that make up Phase 5 are the smallest at the complex, as the slope of the site and a consistent roof line mean their heights vary between four and 13 storeys.

Saleh said this has allowed the studio to develop flat types that will be "more intimate and domestic" in scale and better connected to surrounding outdoor spaces.

"Every phase of Park Hill is different as the ground level steps up the hillside, creating new conditions and typologies," Saleh told Dezeen.

"Phase 5 is very special as it's where the building comes down to four storeys and all the scales and spaces are much more intimate and domestic. It also has a higher proportion of larger flat types than any other part of the estate and also more with a direct relationship to ground floor outdoor space."

The flats will range in size between one and four bedrooms and there will also be 15 townhouses with their own front door and rear garden.

One of the most notable elements of Phase 5 that will be adopted from Phase 2 is the colour palette of blues, greens and purples, chosen to complement the existing brickwork that slots between the concrete frame.

The colours will be applied to insulation panels on the balcony reveals, as well as the front doors to each flat, helping to provide them with a unique identity.

Mikhail Riches said this idea references how past and current residents have adapted and personalised their homes over the years.

Individual homes will be distinguishable by their patterned entrance mats, set within the floor like in Phase 2 and nodding to original 1960s patterned linoleum laid by previous residents.

Phase 5 will also build on Mikhail Riches' ambition for Phase 2 to improve the performance of the existing building fabric and reduce its operational energy consumption.

"We are always learning from each phase and so have tested and modelled junctions to improve thermal performance, simplified details to improve workmanship," Saleh said.

"At Phase 2 we reduced the operational carbon by 87 per cent compared to pre-retrofit through improved fabric performance," Saleh continued. "We will be looking to improve this further and Phase 5 will be the first phase to deliver photovoltaics within the base specification."

Outdoor spaces will include a series of gardens, which will help link Phase 5 to the rest of the estate and incorporate new and existing trees and a wildflower meadow. There will also be allotment beds and communal tool sheds between Phases 3 and 5.

Mikhail Riches' work on Phase 2 of Park Hill won sustainable project of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2023. It was hailed by the master jury as "the clear winner".

"Park Hill was the clear winner in this category due to its remarkable scale and incredible technical skill," said the master jury. "This project takes an icon of post-war British housing and infuses it with new life."

Other large housing estates that have been revived in recent years include The Bijlmermeer building in Amsterdam, overhauled by NL Architects and XVW Architectuur, and Transformation of 530 Dwellings in Bordeaux by Frédéric Druot Architecture, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes and Christophe Hutin Architecture.

The renders are by Mikhail Riches and the photos are by Lizzie Crook. 

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The latest edition of our weekly Dezeen Agenda newsletter features news that Saudi Arabia has lowered the predicted number of residents planned for The Line by 2030. Subscribe to Dezeen Agenda now.

News agency Bloomberg reported that officials expect The Line – the 170-kilometre-long linear city being designed as part of Neom – to house fewer than 300,000 people by 2030.

A source also said that just 2.4 kilometres of The Line's total 170 kilometres will be completed by 2030, and a document seen by Bloomberg revealed that at least one of The Line's contractors has begun dismissing some of the workers it employs on the site.

This week's newsletter also featured Dolce & Gabbana's plans for a supertall skyscraper in Miami and the death of Italian designer and architect Gaetano Pesce.

Dezeen Agenda

Dezeen Agenda is a curated newsletter sent every Tuesday containing the most important news highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Agenda or subscribe here.

You can also subscribe to our other newsletters; Dezeen Debate is sent every Thursday and features the hottest reader comments and most-debated stories, Dezeen Daily is our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours and Dezeen In Depth is sent on the last Friday of every month and delves deeper into the major stories shaping architecture and design. 

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Italian jewellery company Bulgari has reclaimed the record for making the world's thinnest mechanical watch with the release of its Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc, which has a thickness of just 1.7 millimetres.

It beat the previous record holder, Richard Mille's RM UP-01 Ferrari, by just 0.05 millimetres – about the breadth of a human hair.

The design is an evolution of Bulgari's Octo Finissimo Ultra, which held the record for four months in 2022 before the release of Ferrari's collaboration with watchmaker Richard Mille.

"The Octo Finissimo is a vast playground of innovation and design — and a source of unprecedented challenges — for Bulgari's R&D department," said the director of Bulgari's watchmaking division Antoine Pin.

All 170 components that make up the movement of the Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc are fixed directly onto the back of the watch's case rather than onto a separate mainplate, just like in its predecessor.

To protect the mechanism in lieu of this additional layer, the case back is made of tungsten carbide – an ultra-durable metal alloy – while the front of the case and the matching strap are made of sandblasted titanium.

The new thinness was achieved by "optimising" the sapphire crystal front, according to Bulgari.

"Through patient, meticulous incremental steps, the engineers were able to shave off that critical tenth of a millimetre," the company said.

The final design is 1.7 millimetres thick or about the width of a five-pence coin.

The Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc also presents an advance in terms of accuracy.

It is the thinnest watch to ever receive the chronometer mark by Switzerland's independent Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), which requires a timepiece to lose no more than four seconds and gain no more than six seconds a day.

The watch will be produced in a limited edition of 20, with a QR code on the back linking to an online product manual specific to the individual watch.

Each will also come with a case that will automatically set and wind the watch at the push of a button.

The release marks Bulgari's ninth world record for the thinness of its watches, as it is locked in a race with watchmakers including Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet and Piaget.

Other recent releases aimed at pushing traditional watch design include Frank Gehry's transparent Louis Vuitton timepiece and Formafantasma's Rado watch, which was designed to have a sense of secrecy.

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Italian architect Italo Rota, who designed projects including the Museo del Novecento in Milan, has passed away at age 70.

Fellow Italian architect Carlo Ratti, who worked with Rota on numerous projects, described him as "a great innovator – one of those rare designers capable not only of giving new answers but of asking himself new questions".

Rota passed away on Saturday in his home city, Milan.

Born in 1953, he began his career in architecture working for architect Franco Albini and doing a four-year apprenticeship with architect Vittorio Gregotti.

Rota graduated in architecture from Milan Polytechnic University in 1982 before moving to Paris, where he worked with Italian architect Gae Aulenti on projects including the Musée d'Orsay, renovating the Museum of Modern Art at the Pompidou Centre, and lighting the Notre-Dame cathedral.

He returned to Milan in 1996, where he founded his studio Italo Rota Building Office.

Some of his most notable projects include designing Milan's Museo del Novecento, which opened in 2010, and completing a number of projects for Roberto Cavalli, including the fashion designer's villa in Florence.

Rota often collaborated with architecture studio Carlo Ratti Associati, more recently on projects including the masterplan for Rome's bid to host the World Expo 2030 and the Italy Pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020, which was topped with three boat hulls.

Ratti described how he "became friends" with Rota when creating projects for the Expo Milano 2015 and, after working together on the Dubai Expo 2020, their friendship grew to become long-term collaborators.

The pair also designed a home around a 10-metre-tall tree in the Italian countryside and used over 500 metres of copper pipe to create sculptures that support renewable energy devices in the Brera botanical garden for Milan Design Week in 2022.

"We have carried out all the projects of the last five years together," said Ratti.

"In architecture we were passionate about the same themes: interaction with people, new design processes and, ultimately, greater integration between the natural and artificial world," Ratti continued.

"Italo loved to play, with splendid depth, and the way we met and collaborated in the last years of his career often made me think that design, in its best moments, can equal one of the capabilities of great poetry: being equally synthetic and touching, elliptical and sparkling."

One of the last projects designed by Rota was the Italian Painting Today exhibition at the Triennale Milano museum, which closed in February.

"With Italo Rota, we lose today an absolute protagonist of Italian architecture and culture," said Italian architect and Triennale Milano president Stefani Boeri.

"We will miss his powerful, freshly whispered ideas, his contradictory views, his rich and always intelligent compositions."

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The gender pay gap at Foster + Partners is the widest it has been since the data was first compiled six years ago despite an overall improvement at the UK's largest architecture firms year-on-year, official figures show.

Reported per the UK's legal requirement for companies with over 250 employees to reveal their gender pay gaps annually, Foster + Partners' median hourly gender pay gap for 2023/24 was 14.4 per cent.

This means that, taken as an average, for every £1 earned by the middle-ranking man at the firm, the middle-ranking woman earns only 86p.

Widening gap blamed on recruiting at junior levels

It compares to a 10.5 per cent disparity in median hourly pay at the studio the previous year and is the widest gap since Foster + Partners first started reporting on its gender pay gap in 2018, when it also stood at 10.5 per cent.

Foster + Partners, which has around 1,200 architectural staff in the UK, is by far the UK's largest studio.

It said that the increase in the gender pay gap is a result of recruiting more women than men over the preceding year since the studio has a policy to focus recruitment on junior levels.

"Foster + Partners has recruited more women than men during 2022/2023 as we encourage diversity," a spokesperson told Dezeen. "This year, we have the highest proportion of women in our workforce (40 per cent) since reporting began."

"To allow us to develop and nurture talent at the practice, the majority of our recruitment takes place at junior and graduate levels. This results in our median pay gap increasing to 14.4 per cent across all staff grades."

Despite the apparent lack of progress to close its gender pay gap, Foster + Partners still fares slightly better than many of its peers on pay equality.

Among the 19 architecture-focused organisations required to report, including the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architectural Association (AA), the median hourly gender pay gap for 2023/24 was 14.8 per cent.

That marks a small improvement on the previous year when the gap was 15.2 per cent.

However, eight of the 19 organisations reported that their median gender pay gaps had widened year-on-year.

Besides Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Hawkins\Brown, Allies and Morrison, PRP Architects, AECOM, Stantec and Ryder Architecture were also in this category. All have been contacted for comment.

Architecture pay gap worse than UK average

Among architecture studios, Grimshaw Architects reported the smallest gender pay gap at 9.9 per cent, a reduction from 13.3 per cent the previous year.

BDP, the UK's second-largest architecture studio, has the widest at 20 per cent – with the gap having narrowed from 21 per cent year-on-year.

The Royal Institute of British Architects reported a 9.3 per cent gap following a marked narrowing from 15.1 per cent in 2022/23.

Having reported a 2.3 per cent gap last year, private architecture school the Architectural Association (AA) currently has no median gender pay gap – meaning the average middle-ranking woman staff member earns the same as the average middle-ranking man.

Companies with at least 250 staff in the UK have been legally required to report annually on their gender pay gaps since 2017/18, with 4 April the deadline to publish figures for the preceding financial year.

According to reporting by The Guardian, the gender pay gap across the UK economy is now 9.1 per cent – the lowest level since reporting became compulsory and significantly lower than the average gap at the largest architecture studios.

Men continue to dominate top-paid roles

Companies are also required to provide data on pay distribution and bonuses.

The figures for 2023/24 show that while women make up more than half of the lowest-paid roles at 14 of the 19 architecture-sector organisations above the 250-employee reporting threshold, men dominate the highest-paid jobs in all but the AA.

A higher proportion of men were paid bonuses than women at 14 of the organisations. More women received bonuses at the AA, PRP and Atkins, while at TP Bennett everyone received a bonus and at Allford Hall Monaghan Morris no-one received a bonus.

London studio BB Partnership, which lists 10 employees on its website, reports gender pay gap figures voluntarily. It disclosed a median hourly gender pay gap of minus 13.1 per cent for 2023/24 – meaning that women are paid more than men on average.

Gender pay gap figures reported to the UK government are based on a snapshot taken in early April each year.

The median is the metric most commonly used to present pay gap data as it provides the best indication of the typical worker's earnings and, unlike the mean which describes an overall average, is not distorted by extremes.

It has been illegal to pay men and women different amounts for doing the same jobs in the UK since 1970.

Figures recently published in Australia showed that the largest architecture studios operating in the country are failing to meet government targets on gender pay disparity.

Responses from organisations contacted for comment in relation to this story are published below.

Foster + Partners

A spokesperson said: "Foster + Partners has recruited more women than men during 2022/2023 as we encourage diversity. This year, we have the highest proportion of women in our workforce (40 per cent) since reporting began.

"To allow us to develop and nurture talent at the practice, the majority of our recruitment takes place at junior and graduate levels. This results in our median pay gap increasing to 14.4 per cent across all staff grades.

"Our pay gap is not an equal pay issue. Men and women are paid equally for doing equivalent jobs across the practice."

BDP

Nick Fairham, chief executive, said: "While we are confident that BDP colleagues are paid fairly and equally for the work they do, our senior leadership and highest-paid roles remain heavily male-dominated. Therefore, while we have seen a further reduction in the mean pay gap of 0.4 per cent this year, our results continue to be influenced by the higher proportion of men earning the highest salaries.

"We know that we need to make more progress to address this lack of representation at a senior level, and to remove any barriers that may be preventing women from moving into more senior positions. Addressing this will remain a key focus as we progress with our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy, led by our EDI working group, BDP Belonging."

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)

A spokesperson said: "We have recently expanded into new markets and sectors as well as enhanced our multidisciplinary practice offering clients additional services and oversight.

"While impacting our latest pay gap reporting, this expansion has enabled ZHA to employ a significant number of new entry-level staff who have now begun their progression at ZHA with the firm's professional development programmes and tailored initiatives targeted to enable women at ZHA to excel and advance in their careers."

Hawkins\Brown

Hawkins\Brown said it did not have a further comment but referred to its full gender pay gap report.

The photo is by Christin Hume.

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The Line mega-city, which is the flagship development for Saudi Arabia's Neom project, will allegedly house fewer than 300,000 people by 2030, down from an original goal of 1.5 million.

News agency Bloomberg has reported that officials expect The Line – a 170-kilometre-long linear city consisting of two parallel, 500-metre-high, linear skyscrapers – to house fewer than 300,000 people by 2030.

When the project was introduced, estimates for how many people would live in the mega city in northwestern Saudi Arabia by 2030 ranged from one million people to 1.5 million.

A source also said that just 2.4 kilometres of The Line's total 170 kilometres will be completed by 2030, and a document seen by Bloomberg revealed that at least one of The Line's contractors has begun dismissing some of the workers it employs on the site.

However, "officials have maintained their overall objectives for The Line", according to the news agency.

The scaling-back of the project is because Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund hasn't yet approved Neom's 2024 budget, the source said. Bloomberg has previously reported that the wealth fund is trying to find new cash sources to help finance the project.

The Line, which was originally announced in 2021, would link the Red Sea coast with the northwest of Saudi Arabia and is the most well-known of the Neom projects, which will cover 26,500 square kilometres in northwestern Saudi Arabia in total.

Construction has begun on the building, with a video released earlier this year showing extensive foundation work taking place on the site.

The Neom project will feature ten regions in total, including the floating port city Oxagon designed by Danish studio BIG, ski adventure resort Trojena and luxury island resort Sindalah, which is planned to be the first region to complete and will open for guests this year.

The Line has previously been criticised on sustainability and human rights grounds. In 2022, human rights organisation ALQST reported that three men were sentenced to death after being "forcibly evicted" from the Neom site.

Last year, the UN Human Rights Council expressed "alarm" over the imminent executions. Saudi Arabia responded to the UN by denying abuses had taken place.

Dezeen has reached out to Neom for comment.

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Toronto-based studio Diamond Schmitt Architects has been selected to design the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, Canada, which is one of the country's oldest museums.

The 134,000-square-foot building designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects in collaboration with international firm EXP will unite the current disparate collections of the museum, currently spread in different facilities throughout Saint John, into a new facility at the site of the current neoclassical building.

The museum's current primary location is within a neoclassical building on a slip of land north of the city that opened in 1934 – with roots in a collection operating in different parts of the city since the early 19th century, giving it the title of Canada's "oldest continuing museum".

Diamond Schmitt Architect and EXP's design will create a structure, expanding the site while maintaining the historic facade on the eastern, street-facing aspect of the building and the northern face, which will serve as an internal wall. Some of the historic building's interiors may be retained, according to the team.

To its north and west, a structure with a white, monolithic facade broken up by vertical panes of glass will be erected, complimenting the historic structure and completely obscuring it on the water-facing, western side.

According to the studio, the configuration was meant to mediate the urban environment with the waterfront.

"Taking inspiration from the museum's original site – one of the great vantage points in Saint John – our design embraces the rich history of New Brunswick's heritage and natural landscape," said Diamond Schmitt Architects principal Donald Schmitt.

A double-height entryway – called the great room by the studio – will be clad in glass, fronted by metal louvres

It will create a buffer zone and serve as a "crossroads" between the northern section and the historical structure, the facade of which will be a wall within the new atrium space.

This is a move used in other modern additions to historic structures, such as Studio Gang's recent in-fill at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and Rafael Viñoly's use of a glass atrium to create an interior plaza between a beaux arts structure and a Marcel Breuer addition in Cleveland.

This entry pavilion will connect to the new wings and create a pathway from the parking lot to the terrace on the western side.

It will have a mezzanine walkway that connects the second storeys of the north and west additions with semi-circular cut-outs.

Renderings of the space show massive wooden columns and wooden rafters, and the studio said that the museum is "considering the use of mass timber" in the construction.

Skylights and the sections of vertical glass along the new facade will let in plenty of natural light to the new facilities, most of which is gallery space, but also includes amphitheatres, gathering spaces and research facilities.

The historic wing and its basement will hold a library and serve as storage for the museum's collection and as an administrative place. A rooftop viewing area will be placed on top of the "great room".

"When completed, the museum's research work and exhibitions will be brought together within one sustainable, decarbonized facility that fully supports the museum's mission of preserving, researching, interpreting, and exhibiting the natural and cultural heritage of the Province of New Brunswick," said Diamond Schmitt Architects.

The studio is currently pursuing a "zero-carbon certification" and aims to "decarbonize" the building through insulation, electric boilers and air source heat pumps.

Other museum that utilise historical elements include Lever Architecture's upcoming mass-timber expansion of an art museum in Maine.

The images are by PLAY-TIME unless otherwise noted, courtesy of Diamond Schmitt.

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Italian designer and architect Gaetano Pesce, a pioneer of the Radical Design movement who blurred the boundaries between art and design, has passed away at age 84.

Pesce's death in his adopted home of New York was announced this morning by his studio in a post on Instagram.

"Over the course of six decades Gaetano revolutionized the worlds of art, design, architecture and the liminal spaces between these categories," Pesce's studio wrote. "His originality and nerve are matched by none."

Moving against the stream of rational, functional modernism in the 1960s and early 70s, Pesce experimented with materials and production methods to create furniture pieces imbued with political or religious meaning for brands from Cassina to B&B Italia.

Many would go on to become icons of Italian design including the Up5 chair – an innovative vacuum-packed chair designed to resemble a female prisoner – which he designed for B&B Italia precursor C&B.

Pesce moved to New York in 1983 and began to move away from mass production to create "standardised series" in everyday materials like resin, adapting conventional production techniques to create varied and imperfect outcomes.

The result are pieces such as the 1884 Pratt Chair, which toe the line between functional design and decorative art, helping to create a new category that would later become collectible design.

"Despite dealing with health-related setbacks, especially in the last year, Gaetano remained positive, playful and ever curious," his studio said.

Pesce was "reliably provocative"

Tributes have started pouring in from industry figures including Egyptian designer Karim Rashid, who described Pesce as "a mentor, a friendly teacher, an intellect, a passionate creative artist who I will always have in my heart".

Curator Glenn Adamson payed homage to the most widely influential and "the most reliably provocative of the Italian radical designers" on Instagram.

"I always called him maestro," he wrote. "You see these tendencies everywhere in the design avant garde today, but when Gaetano originated them beginning in the late 1960s he was really out on his own."

A number of solo exhibitions have reappraised Pesce's legacy in recent years including the Age of Contaminations, which Adamson curated for New York gallery Friedman Benda in 2019.

"Pesce's cross-contamination between genres consequentially altered the landscape of design and was a catalyst for the establishment of the contemporary studio practice," the gallery said at the time, describing him as a "provocateur, rule-breaker, and an essential influence on the evolution of contemporary design".

A pioneer of Radical Design

Pesce was born in the Italian city of La Spezia in November 1939, only two months after the start of world war two.

As was common at the time, he trained in both architecture and design, studying first at the University of Venice and later at the Venice Institute of Industrial Design.

Among his architecture projects is the Organic Building in Osaka from 1993, with its plant-covered facade made of orange fibreglass that served as a "precursor to today's vegetation-covered green walls".

But Pesce's most pioneering and well-known work happened in the world of design. In the late 1960s, he became one of the leaders of Italy's Radical Design movement, rejecting modernism's rigid focus on forms dictated by function.

Instead, Pesce focused on the idea that functional objects, much like art, could carry a deeper message.

One of the most famous examples is the controversial Up5 chair from 1969, which manufacturer B&B Italia describes as "the first product of Italian design with a political meaning".

The pioneering design is made from polyurethane foam that is vacuum-packed flat at 10 per cent of the final size.

Once opened, it expands to take its final shape, designed to resemble female body attached to a ball and chain in the form of an ottoman.

"It was, for me, one of my first figurative expressions," Pesce said in an interview during Dezeen's Virtual Design Festival. "For me, what is most important is the representation of the woman without freedom, which is very visible unfortunately in a lot of countries in the world." 

Experiments with resin

In 1972, Pesce founded Cassina's experimental subdivision Bracciodiferro with Alessandro Mendini, for which he created designs including the Golgatha table, shaped like a crucifix and bonded together with red resin to resemble blood.

"In my opinion, this is one of the strongest objects I have made," he said during the VDF interview. "I made this story because I believe design, as an artistic expression, can talk about different concepts and also about religion."

Pesce continued to work until his passing and was set to be a judge at this year's Dezeen Awards.

His most recent work continued his experiments with resin, creating an epoxy-covered set and 400 custom-made chairs for Bottega Veneta's Spring Summer 2023 fashion show.

It was the designer's first new chair design in years and formed part of an ongoing collaboration with the brand's creative Matthieu Blazy.

Pesce's first-ever bag design followed last year, created for Bottega Veneta at the age of 83. In his final years, the designer moved away from his earlier idea of the "standardised series".

"As a designer I make originals, not standardised series', that's the old way – this is the new way," said Pesce. "It is food for the brain – not for pay. If we see the same thing each day, then we die."

The top photo is by Mark O'Flaherty.

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Fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana has released renderings of a supertall skyscraper in Miami, created in collaboration with New York architecture practice Studio Sofield, which will be its first branded residences.

Located in the Brickell neighbourhood of downtown Miami, the 90-storey tower will reach 1,049 feet high (320 metres), the same height as the city's in-progress first supertall skyscraper, the Waldorf Astoria Miami.

Named 888 Brickell, the skyscraper will host 259 "Dolce & Gabbana-designed" residences, restaurants and bars, and amenities such as a pool deck, event space, and fitness and spa centre.

Renderings show a slim tower on a rectangular base wrapped in double-height windows. Open-air amenity areas are located both on top of the base and on the building's roof, which dons a bronze, rectangular cap.

The facade, designed by Studio Sofield, was created to invoke "quintessential modernist skyscrapers and Milanese mid-century design and fashion" according to the team.

Ivory travertine and matte black steel beams will be used on the exterior, with gold and bronze highlights interspersed throughout.

Dolce & Gabbana collaborated with Milan-based studio M2Atelier on the interiors for the project, with renderings picturing dark, moody public spaces outfitted with metallic highlights and animal-print furniture.

"The designs epitomise the fashion house's commitment to sourcing 'fatto a mano' (handmade) and well-considered materials in a perfect meeting of Italianate and Miami glamour and grace" said the team.

"The signature hues of Dolce & Gabbana – black, gold, and red – are expertly interwoven into the interior design, culminating in a
luxurious and cohesive ambience."

A double-height lobby will be clad in black marble, with a grand staircase in the corner leading to private check-in areas and lounges.

Another double-height event space will host a DJ booth and seating, while the building's bars and restaurants will feature  "a harmonious blend of sumptuous textures, including black and white marbles, cast glass, velvet and polished nickel."

Renderings of the residences show spaces clad in white marble, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows and punctuated by bronze accents and a curving staircase.

"Introducing a first-of-its-kind design feat, Dolce & Gabbana's Grand Residences seamlessly transition into multiple individual rooms and suites which can be utilized simultaneously by owners and hotel guests without compromising privacy and featuring private entries for each," said the team.

The project is expected to be completed in 2028.

It is being developed by JDS Development Group, which is also the developer on a SHoP Architects-designed Mercedes Benz residential tower nearby, while Bentley-branded residences on Miami's oceanfront were also recently unveiled.

They join a number of skyscrapers completed and in-progress in the city in recent years, including the Aston Martin residences by architects Bodas Miani Anger, the upcoming 70-story Okan Tower by local architecture firm Behar Font & Partners, and the 75-story Baccarat Residences by Arquitectonica.

Images are courtesy Dolce & Gabbana and JDS Development Group by Recent Spaces unless otherwise noted. 

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The British Council has announced that the British Pavilion at the next Venice Architecture Biennale will be curated by Cave Bureau co-founders Kabage Karanja and Stella Mutegi with Dezeen contributor Owen Hopkins and Queen Mary University professor Kathryn Yusoff.

The British contribution to the 2025 biennale in Venice will see the British Pavilion building in the Giardini, which was built in 1909 to evoke a country house, turned "inside out".

"The exhibition will map architectures from across the world defined by an embedded relationship to the ground, which are resilient in the face of climate breakdown, social, economic and political upheaval; and that offer refuge and empowerment for the most climate-exposed communities," said the curator team.

"To frame this, we intend to conceptually re-inscribe the British Pavilion by turning it inside out and unearth what these acts of repair might look like when framing a planetary vernacular."

Pavilion to be curated by UK-Kenyan team

The team consists of curators and architects from UK and Kenya.

Karanja and Mutegi are the co-founders of Nairobi-based architecture studio Cave Bureau, which has been curating the travelling Anthropocene Museum since 2019 – last year the Anthropocene Museum took over a slaughterhouse as part of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial.

Mutegi was recently named in Dezeen's list of the 50 most influential women in architecture and design.

Alongside the Cave Bureau duo, the exhibition will be curated by Hopkins, who is the director of the Farrell Centre at Newcastle University and a long-time contributor to Dezeen, and Yusoff, who is a professor of inhuman geography at Queen Mary University of London.

According to the British Council, which commissions the pavilion, the appointment of the UK-Kenyan team marks the first time the pavilion has been used to "celebrate international connection and collaboration".

Exhibition will focus on "architecture of repair"

"As part of the upcoming 2025 UK-Kenya Season of Culture, this appointment marks the first time that the British Council uses our platform as a cultural relations organisation to celebrate international connection and collaboration through the British Pavilion in Venice," said British Council director of architecture, design and fashion Sevra Davis.

"I look forward to working with the appointed team to develop and deliver an exhibition that speaks not only of an 'architecture of repair' but also celebrates cross-cultural knowledge creation. The exhibition will acknowledge the past while presenting an exciting vision for a more equitable future."

The Venice Architecture Biennale is the most significant global architecture event and the 2025 edition will be curated by Italian architect and engineer Carlo Ratti. His appointment at the end of last year was described as a "a screeching U-turn" by critic Catherine Slessor in an opinion piece on Dezeen.

Last year's British Pavilion was curated by Jayden Ali, Meneesha Kellay, Joseph Henry and Sumitra Upham. It was one of 11 key pavilions were rounded up from the event.

The photo is courtesy of the British Council.

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An undulating form topped with terraces will distinguish this technology museum, which the Shanghai office of architecture studio Stefano Boeri Architetti has designed for Xi'an, China.

Stefano Boeri Architetti's plans for Museum of Technology in Xi'an, also known as Culture CBD Modern Technology Experience Center, aims to become a hub for both the public and the scientific community in Shaanxi province.

The museum will have a winding, undulating form lined on one side with vertical metal slats and horizontal slats of glass fibre-reinforced concrete on the other.

According to the studio, this design draws on the landscape of rivers and mountains, as well as "the ancient origins of the city of Xi'an".

"The Xi'an museum will be an architecture open to everybody, designed to activate a process of urban regeneration in the area and involve a wide audience – from technology enthusiasts to children and students," said the studio's founder Stefano Boeri.

"A place of study, in-depth analysis, research and technological innovation, in the heart of one of the most important cities in Chinese history."

Museum of Technology in Xi'an has been developed as part of "a sequence of public spaces" that link to an urban park to the north and a city street to the south.

"The aim of the project is to create a permeable system open to the public, capable of activating new urban connections on different levels," said the studio.

One of the project's most notable features is the series of green rooftop terraces, which will be accessible to visitors to use as both a viewpoint and gathering space.

While hosting gardens, these terraces will also be used for various events including screenings, shows and performances. The planting design currently includes various tree species and shrubs typical of Chinese landscapes.

Inside, the museum will contain four main exhibition spaces, along with a temporary exhibition space and commercial areas.

They will be linked by a double-height central atrium and feature various digital artworks, experiences and exhibits, while virtual signage and apps will aid navigation.

"In addition to involvement and interaction with the public, the project paid particular attention to the use of multimedia and digital contents and their dissemination," said studio partner Yibo Xu.

"The museum will play an important role in shaping future exhibition scenarios and imagining new ways of producing and exhibiting art."

Boeri founded his eponymous studio Stefano Boeri Architetti in 2011. Today its main office is in Milan, but it also has offices in Shanghai and Tirana. Other recent projects by the studio include a proposal for a meditation centre at "one of the most sacred sites of Buddhism" and a masterplan for Smart Forest City in Mexico.

The visuals are courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti.

Project credits

Architect: Stefano Boeri Architetti
Founding partner: Stefano Boeri
Partner: Yibo Xu
Design team: Pietro Chiodi, Yifan Liu, Yinxin Bao, Xinyue Liu, Taimuzi Fu, Yifan Fei, Zhifei Yao, Changjiang Zhang, Qingxuan Yu, Yitao Huang, Mohamed Hassan Ali Elgendy

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Global architecture studio Populous has designed a renewed horse-racing track and sporting venue for Belmont Park in Nassau County, New York.

The facility will redevelop the original Belmont Park, which first opened in 1905 and was renovated in 1968. The historic track has been home to the Belmont Stakes for over 155 years and has seen racing legends like Beldame and Seabiscuit.

Kansas City-based Populous has been tasked with replacing the 1.25-million square foot (116,1300-square metre) structure – including 275,000 square feet (25,550 square metres) of interior space – to modernize the complex and add contemporary amenities and hospitality offerings, as well as transform the racetrack into a multi-purpose venue for both racing and non-racing events.

The new five-storey grandstand will maintain the current 50,000 seats, but reorganize them in a flexible layout that accommodates off-season events. The white building will be wrapped in glazing shaded by a monumental cantilevered roof with swooping rounded corners.

"Key spaces within and around the building have been optimized for flexibility, supporting both racing and non-racing events," the Populous team said, referencing large interior and exterior green public space that can be used by the surrounding Elmont, Floral Park, and East Queens communities.

The new clubhouse is designed to be used for community events and social gatherings such as weddings, in addition to hosting races.

The redevelopment project also extends to the barn and backstretch areas, with the construction of three new dormitories and bicycle-storage sheds to encourage multi-modal travel.

Renovated spaces will include an on-site medical facility, recreation hall, track kitchen and gymnasium. Additionally, the team will implement new flood mitigation strategies, replace fencing, install a Blue Light security system, ensure access to reliable WiFi and assess the feasibility of subsidized assistant trainer efficiency apartments.

"Belmont Park’s past is rich with trendsetting racing innovation and it has always been a place where people gather together," Populous principal Meg McWilliam told Dezeen.

"We're proud to utilize our global racing expertise and intimate understanding of the operations behind high-profile thoroughbred racing events to design a facility that isn’t just eye-catching but is functionally efficient."

"Alongside NYRA, we're bringing American racing into the twenty-first century."

Demolition began in mid-March, prompting the relocation of the June 2024 Belmont Stakes to the Saratoga Race Course. After the site is cleared, structural concrete, the exterior facade, roof and canopy will be raised throughout 2025.

The New York Racing Association hopes to bring the Belmont Stakes back to the venue in 2026, preceding the official re-opening of Belmont Park in September 2026.

The facility – which is estimated to generate $155 million in economic output annually – is also a hopeful location of the 2026 Breeder's Cup.

"The park at Belmont has not only been beautifully maintained, it’s expanded to the west and into the infield, continuing its legacy as a community asset," McWilliam said.

"The revitalization project allows us to enhance a park that is already beloved by the community, creating publicly accessible green space in the area."

Populous is also currently working on a temporary cricket stadium for the 2024 World Cup in Nassau County and the design for a new football stadium for the Buffalo Bills in Western New York set to be completed in 2026.

The images are courtesy of Populous.

Project credits:

Structural: Thornton Tomasetti
Civil: Bohler Engineering
MEP/lighting: ME Engineers
Vertical transportation: Fortune Shepler Saling
Code: Howe Engineers

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Global architecture studio Populous has unveiled the design for a sports performance centre on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio.

A future home of the NBA team the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 210,000-square foot (19,510-square metre) development "is slated to be one of the world's largest training facilities".

Known as the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, the development will offer training and care for professional and community athletes, and it will be the first vertical development in the Cuyahoga Riverfront Master Plan, a $3.5 billion (£2.7 billion), 35-acre urban transformation project spearheaded by Bedrock Real Estate and designed by Adjaye Associates that prioritizes accessibility and sustainability for the city.

The design for the performance centre is guided by three core principles: embracing the Cuyahoga River, creating a "local icon" and elevating the athlete's experience.

"Populous' design of the Global Peak Performance Center will catalyze the Cuyahoga Riverfront development and energize the City of Cleveland," said senior principal at Populous Jonathan Mallie.

"The building's design and aesthetic connects the movement of the river with the motion of the athlete, blending seamlessly with the industrial character of its environment."

The form of the structure will bend around the riverfront, following the path of a newly revitalized and preserved Eagle Road that allows pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular connectivity with the surrounding context.

"The center takes inspiration from the colors and curvature of the Cuyahoga River and the surrounding valley, creating core-to-shore connectivity that adds new dimension to the coastline," the team said.

The inset ground floor –  housing the Cavaliers' designated space – will be of cast-in-place concrete with integrated LED lighting.

Above, the second and third floors will hover over the public zone with a swooping curtain wall in fritted glass. Bronze-toned aluminium blades will run vertically up the facade, shading the expansive glass while expressing a sense of horizontal movement around the curved corners.

To serve as a "local icon", the performance centre will be located just blocks from the Gateway Sports Complex and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where it will tie into the existing sports and entertainment infrastructure of Downtown Cleveland.

"Revitalizing our waterfronts is crucial for the longevity and sustainability of our cities," Mallie told Dezeen. "Our team at Populous is proud and committed to shaping the landscape of Cleveland's future, not only for elite athletes but for the health and wellness of all Clevelanders."

The centre will not only cater to professional athletes – it will have training, treatment, nutrition and recovery services for athletes from all walks of life. The facility will be the only Cleveland Clinic-backed professional facility open to the public and provide a platform for the Cavs Academy, a program that serves 50,000 regional youth athletes annually.

The team plans to break ground on the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center before the end of 2024, pending approval.

In addition to Adjaye's master plan, other high-profile projects in Cleveland include the future expansion of IM Pei's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Practice for Architecture and Urbanism and a light-filled medical academic building for Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University by Foster + Partners.

The renderings are courtesy of Populous.

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A "decentralized" group of designers are launching a furniture design-focused festival that will take place in the neighbourhoods of eastern Los Angeles.

Called Los Angeles Design Weekend, the inaugural event is set to take place from 21 to 23 June across a range of studios and showrooms in neighbourhoods in East Los Angeles and Downtown.

The move comes after the announcement that Los Angeles Design Festival, which was revived last year after a pandemic hiatus, would move to a biannual model.

"A group of us felt that LA was lacking a true celebration of all the wonderful independent designers and makers here," Holland Denvir, who is one of the lead organisers, told Dezeen.

Denvir is the owner of a creative agency in the area and has become one of the lead organisers of the event, which is being planned by a growing volunteer force.

The festival will be organised by neighbourhood, with each day clustered around a geographic core. Some of the neighbourhoods included will be Downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake, Frog Town and Atwater.

Denvir said the itinerary has been planned to avoid the infamous traffic in Los Angeles so that participants can walk, take transit or cycle between the various activations, which will start at Denvir Enterprises showroom Downtown.

"It's decentralized," Denvir said. "However, we're being mindful about when and where the activations happen."

Several local design studios have already confirmed their participation in the festival including HubbaHubba, landscape studio Terremoto and ceramicist Daniel Dooreck.

According to Denvir, the event will focus attention on the growing design scene in the eastern part of the city, which often competes for events with Hollywood and the neighbourhoods in the western part of the city.

"Our goal is to make it digestible where you're excited to explore a very focused part of LA and then in the future, we will focus on a different part of town," said Denvir.

Beyond the showrooms and activations, the group behind the festival also hopes to have interactive elements as part of the programming.

"It's not just to see what the designers here are making," said Denvir. "It's also to get your hands dirty as a participant."

"We're also working with local design schools to engage the next generation of designers in this exciting celebration of all facets of eastside LA design," added Rachel Bullock, co-founder of furniture studio Laun, which is involved in planning the event.

"We've been floored by the overwhelming positive response and the engagement of the community thus far," Bullock continued. "There are so many brilliant creatives in this city and it's great to see the way people are coming together."

Other designers already involved with the event include installation artist Jihan Zencirli and interior designer Adi Goodrich.

The festival comes at a time of heightened attention to the Los Angeles design scene, with a number of galleries putting on shows this year to coincide with the city's art week and international collectible design fair Design Miami announcing a Los Angeles edition to take place in mid-May 2024.

Los Angeles Design Weekend will take place from 21-23 June. For more events, festivals and talks in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide. 

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New York architecture studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro has unveiled images of a grey, sculptural expansion to The Broad museum in Los Angeles, which the studio created nearly a decade ago.

Located adjacent to The Broad, the 55,000-square-foot (5,109 square metres) expansion will contain additional art galleries, storage, performance space and two open-air courtyards.

Designs show a rectangular building elevated above a plaza. Curved-edge windows are pushed into its facade with the edges of the glazed openings appearing to pull the exterior of the building inwards. The studio said the expansion will complement the existing structure while retaining distinct characteristics.

"I think of the new building as a companion to the existing Broad," said Diller Scofidio + Renfro partner Elizabeth Diller. "The pair shares DNA, but each has its own distinct character and purpose in constant dialogue with its counterpart."

The form was derived from the "veil" and "vault" concept of the original museum, which consists of a honeycomb "veil" that folds over an organic, large grey "vault" that makes up the interior.

"The exterior of the expansion echoes the surface appearance of the vault – as if this core had been exposed and 'unveiled' – symbolically expressing The Broad's commitment to access while playfully inverting the visual vocabulary of the current building," said the team.

The expansion will host galleries on the first, second and third floors and second-floor storage racks that will house additional artworks, which visitors will be able to move through.

It also will pay homage to the circulation of the first structure, in which transitional areas were given special care, according to the team.

"The original Broad was conceived as an unfolding experience starting in the lobby, traveling up the escalator piercing the vault, landing in the third-floor gallery immersed in the collection, then snaking down through collection storage on the way back to the street," said Diller.

"The challenge of adding more space to the building was to retain this intuitive circulation and logic while introducing a set of completely new experiences for the visitor."

An interior rendering shows a large, white cube gallery with track lighting, wooden flooring and contemporary artwork, with a curved window towards one corner.

An outdoor plaza located underneath and around the expansion will connect the museum to a local metro station.

The project will break ground in 2025 while the Broad remains open. Expected completion is set for 2028, "before Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics" notes the team.

When The Broad opened in 2015, writer Mimi Zeiger called it an "elegant exercise in mundanity". In 2022, Elizabeth Diller said The Broad was designed to feel "extremely welcoming" in a Dezeen-produced video series dedicated to concrete buildings.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro recently completed a performing arts centre on a Massachusetts campus and had its first single-family residential project in the Hamptons photographed years after its completion.

The images are by Plomp

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La Sagrada Familia Foundation has announced that the monumental church in Barcelona is set for completion in 2026, 100 years after the death of its architect Antoni Gaudí.

Construction on the Sagrada Familia began in 1882 and was led by Gaudí until his passing in 1926. Now, after more than 140 years, a final completion date has been announced.

"The Chapel of the Assumption is expected to be finished in 2025 and the tower of Jesus Christ in 2026," La Sagrada Familia Foundation told news site CNN.

Gaudí designed the huge church to be topped with 18 spires, 12 of which are now complete.

The final six towers are currently under construction including the 170-metre-high central spire, which on completion will make Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world, rising almost 10 metres higher than Ulm Minster in Germany.

In recent years, the speed of construction has increased with a team from engineering firm Arup invited to help speed up the construction and reduce the weight of one of its many colossal elements.

In a recent interview with Dezeen, Arup engineer Tristram Carfrae explained that prefabricated stone panels are being used to build the remaining towers.

The Sagrada Familia has had a long and complex construction history, with Gaudi taking over the project and dramatically changing the design in 1883 after its original architect resigned.

The church progressed under his leadership for the next 40 years until his death, when less than a quarter was estimated to be complete. Following his death, construction slowed due to funding and then was halted by the Spanish civil war, when the majority of the architect's original plans were lost.

The current design is based on reconstructed plans and models.

The building is the largest and most significant of the many buildings designed by the Catalan architect in Barcelona, where the first house he designed opened to the public in 2017.

The main image is by Maksim Sokolov.

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Dutch studio MVRDV has revealed a series of residential high-rises arranged around courtyards in Shenzhen's Qianhai bay, which will form part of a smart city development by technology company Tencent.

Named Tencent 5, the residential complex will have four courtyards surrounded by 11 apartment buildings and an adjacent kindergarten, designed to be a neighbourhood that fosters community.

Located on a narrow peninsula, the bayside residences will be the centrepiece of a wider smart city campus developed by Tencent and masterplanned by US architecture studio NBBJ.

MVRDV designed Tencent 5 as a social and green development that provides housing to employees working in the city.

"By contributing to Tencent's smart city, we want to show that smart cities are also healthy cities, green cities, and social cities," said MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas.

"The attention in smart cities always goes to the technology, and our design of the Tencent residential complex certainly includes that, but in our conception, the technology-related aspects are inseparable from the social spaces, the green courtyards, the terraces – the technological goes hand-in-hand with the human."

The terraced residential buildings, which range in height from 57 to one hundred metres, will have equally-sized apartments with views of the sea to the west and the bay towards the east.

"Located at the northern end of the campus, MVRDV's design emphasises equality between residents," said MVRDV. "All units are identical in size and layout, with each providing a balcony or bay window to its occupant."

"The buildings are terraced, supporting communal green spaces that can be accessed by all residents."

The green courtyards and other public spaces in Tencent 5 were designed to be places where neighbours can connect with each other.

Pedestrian paths through the complex will provide added outdoor space populated with sports and leisure activities.

Additional shared amenity space will be located on the ground floors of the residential buildings, and multi-level balconies will puncture the facades.

"Large, multi-floor breakout spaces puncture the towers' facades at a variety of levels, allowing residents to gather with others who live in the same part of the building and breaking the development into a number of smaller 'neighbourhoods'," said MVRDV.

A kindergarten adjacent to the residential complex will also be arranged around its own courtyard. It will be made up of a series of blocky buildings with rooftop gardens, connected by corridors and walkways.

"The courtyard, along with the spaces between the blocks, provide safe and shaded playing spaces for the children, while the blocks themselves feature rooftop gardens," said MVRDV.

Construction on Tencent 5 is underway and it is due to be completed in 2024.

Other projects by MVRDV in China include the transformation of a skyscraper in Shenzhen into a women and children's centre and its plans for a library in Wuhan with a sweeping form.

The images are by Atchain.

Project credits:

Architect: MVRDV
Co-architect: A&E design
Contractor: Shanghai Baoye Group Corp
Structural engineering and MEP: A&E design
Cost calculation: Arcadis
Environmental advisor: ATKINS
Visualisations: Atchain and Tiptop

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The built environment is the fastest-growing consumer of materials in the world – but it also offers the most potential for improvement according to Julia Okatz, advisor on the UN's landmark Global Resource Outlook.

Making buildings and neighbourhoods more efficient could reduce the global need for raw materials by 25 per cent by 2060, the International Resource Panel (IRP) report found, while slashing energy demand and emissions by 30 per cent.

"Built environment patterns are the single most important determiner of a country's emissions," Okatz told Dezeen.

"[Firstly] because of its direct impacts, because of heating and all the climate impacts embodied in materials, but also because of its impact on people's behaviour," she continued.

"The built environment isn't just concrete use, it has all these other implications on energy use, so it is probably the biggest lever overall."

The need for carefully considered buildings that reduce resource use while maintaining or even improving inhabitants' quality of life presents an exciting opportunity for architects to take more control of the planning process, Okatz argues,

"I think architects would be one of the major benefitting industries in this scenario," she said.

"We need less mass deployment of inefficient options and much more architectural design. So I think for architects, it's actually a growth agenda."

Resource use tripled in the last 50 years

Launched during the sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly this month, the 2024 Global Resource Outlook is the IRP's latest review of the world's resource use since the last edition of the report was published in 2019.

Our "insatiable use of resources" has tripled over the last 50 years, the latest report found, and is now responsible for over 55 per cent of global emissions and 40 per cent of air pollution impacts, making it the "main driver" of the planetary crisis.

While environmental impacts are escalating, the economic and wellbeing benefits brought by our increasing use of the Earth's resources have stagnated – and in some cases even declined

Left unchecked, material extraction looks set to rise by a further 60 per cent by 2060, compounding these negative impacts.

Buildings and construction are chief among the four sectors responsible for this increase, according to the Global Resource Outlook. "The built environment globally is the fastest growing material consumer," said Okatz, who is the "right hand" of IRP co-chair Janez Potočnik and the director of natural resources at consulting firm Systemiq.

But the report also outlines an achievable path by which the industry could reduce its use of raw materials by 25 per cent by 2060, while helping to deliver "global prosperity".

"You can lift a lot of those people now living in poverty onto a level of really good quality of life in a really efficient way if – and this is the important if – high-income countries also get a lot more efficient," Okatz said.

Single-family homes "bad urban design"

Concrete makes up the biggest and fastest-growing chunk of the built environment's material demand.

Sand, gravel, limestone and other "non-metallic minerals" used to make concrete account for half of all materials extracted globally and around half of the industry's entire climate footprint, according to the Global Resource Outlook.

More efficient structural design – making use of innovations such as vaulted flooring and clever formwork – can reduce concrete use per building by around 30 per cent, Okatz estimates.

And switching to low-carbon concrete or biomass-based alternatives like timber can help to mitigate some of the adverse environmental impacts.

But perhaps the biggest and most undervalued solution highlighted in the report lies in changing what kind of buildings are built – not just how they are constructed, according to Okatz.

"About 50 per cent of residential construction in Europe is single-family homes and, to be honest, that's just bad urban design," she said.

"It's also not particularly future-proof because demand might still be quite high now but the overall trend, largely, is people moving into city centres and wanting to be less car-dependent," she added.

"So we think a lot of that will basically be a bad investment beyond 20 years from now, even if it wasn't resource inefficient."

Architects can lead the charge

Instead, the data suggests we need more "medium-density" residential buildings, which require fewer resources to build and operate while offering a superior quality of life compared to more dense developments.

"In a European context, the average is to say something like six-unit houses are probably best," Okatz said. "Because it still allows people really good green space access and good noise insulation, all of these things. But it's quite efficient."

Following the example of Belgium's De Sijs project (top image) and Virrey Aviles Street housing in Buenos Aires (below), making these kinds of dwellings more aspirational and attractive presents a key opportunity for architects, according to Okatz.

"Architects and great design should be valued more because everyone can do a boring single-family home but not everyone can do an amazing six-unit community living space," she said.

"What good architecture can do to slightly denser living – to me that is where I would see architects really leading the way," Okatz continued.

"To say: if you do it right, this is how amazing life can be in these kinds of set-ups so people don't even want to live in their own little thing anymore because it's lonely, inefficient and expensive."

The top image of the De Sijs housing project in Belgium is by Stijn Bollaert.

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The Obama Foundation and US architecture studio Moody Nolan have released images of an athletic facility to be built on the Obama Presidential Center campus in Chicago.

Called Home Court, the building will host a regulation-size NBA basketball court, sports facilities and community spaces and serve as a wellness and gathering hub.

Located on the southwest corner of the in-progress, 19.3-acre (7.8 hectare) Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, the athletics centre will be the first space to open on the campus.

"The Home Court will support the Center's mission as a forum for community, connection, and civic engagement with a focus on promoting well-being – inspiring hope and improving lives for generations to come," said Moody Nolan director of Chicago operations Renauld Deandre Mitchell.

"The process of architectural design embodies these values, for it is an act of hope – the outcome of which endures as a conversation between what is seen and how it is experienced."

Moody Nolan designed the 45,000-square-foot (4,180 square metres) facility to reflect two "personal passions" of former US President Barack Obama.

"The Home Court design is inspired by two of President Obama's personal passions – basketball and building community – with a sleek metal and glass panel exterior patterned to be a metaphor for a basketball net and community connection," said the team.

Renderings show a rectangular, winged building where each side dips to meet at the centre. On either end, the facades are glazed, with a two-tiered terrace at the front and a double-height space clad in a curtain wall at the back.

Wedges of textured metal fold over the building's exterior.

The facility's basketball court will be located at the back, with the expansive curtain wall looking out over the neighbouring lagoon and Lake Michigan.

The court will be lined with a second-floor mezzanine.

Visitors will enter the building through a double-height lobby and other programming will include training spaces, exercise equipment, and community spaces.

Interior renderings show a variety of rooms marked with a grey and black palette and lined with light wood panelling throughout.

The Obama Foundation is working with local chapters of institutions such as the YMCA and Girls in the Game to inform the interior programming, with participants requesting spaces for physical fitness activities, team sports and career development with after-school and weekend accessibility.

Sustainable design strategies include geothermal heating and cooling, according to the team and an array of solar panels are pictured on the roof.

"Designing the Home Court for the Obama Foundation is not just about creating a building," said Moody Nolan founder Curt Moody. "This project represents an opportunity to contribute to the narrative of progress and unity that defines our nation's history."

Moody Nolan will work with builders Elevate Design Builders and AECOM Hunt on the building, which is expected to open in late 2025.

It is part of the larger Obama Presidential Center campus designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects with Interactive Design Architects (IDEA).

Currently under construction with an opening date set for 2026, the campus will include a monolithic stone-clad museum, the Obama Presidential Library and a public forum building with an L-shaped footprint.

Greenspaces and other work, such as a recently announced sculpture by artist Maya Lin, will infill the exterior spaces.

The designs for the campus were revealed in 2017 after Obama invited New York studios Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SHoP Architects and Scandinavian firm Snøhetta to pitch for the project.

At the time of the project's presentation to the Chicago City Council in 2018,  Cultural Landscape Foundation president Charles A Birnbaum discussed the repercussions of the campus being built on top of a Fredrick Law Olmsted-designed park.

A most recent construction update notes that the "crews continue to make steady progress on the concrete structure of the Museum Building" and both the forum and library are in progress.

The images are courtesy of the Obama Foundation

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The Palm Springs Art Museum has unveiled the reconstructed Aluminaire House in California, a modernist house originally designed in the 1930s by architect Albert Frey and editor A Lawrence Kocher.

After "languishing for decades" in upstate New York, the house has been relocated to Palm Springs, California, where the museum plans to showcase and preserve it.

A foundation that manages the house gifted it to the museum to be part of its permanent collection, moving it from a storage unit in New York to southern California.

Originally assembled in just 10 days, the home was designed by Swiss-American architect Frey, who went on to work extensively in the Palm Springs area from 1939 until he died in 1998, and Kocher, then editor of the magazine Architectural Record.

LA-based architect Leo Marmol of Marmol Radziner, which recently completed California's tallest residential skyscraper, led a team of architects and engineers that reassembled Aluminaire House in California.

Marmol, who was a personal friend of Frey's, said the project is a tribute to the late architect's legacy.

"I knew him personally while he was still alive, and he has had such an important impact on Palm Springs," Marmol told Dezeen. "I saw this project as a tribute to his legacy."

The three-storey house has a boxy frame with an entry program that is pushed back and framed by pilotis. These support the cantilevered upper floors, running up through the structure and reappearing as columns supporting a shade structure on the canopy.

Six five-inch aluminium pipe columns bear the weight of the entire structure. Much of its framing was done in steel, while the exterior was clad in non-load-bearing corrugated aluminium walls.

The house, an early prototype of pre-fabricated housing, was designed to be "mass-produced and affordable, using inexpensive, off-the-shelf materials", according to the museum.

On its ground floor, Aluminaire House has an entrance hall and garage. All the living areas are on the second floor, with the living room area extending upwards into the third floor as a double-height space. A mezzanine library on the semi-enclosed third floor leads out to a covered terrace.

The mostly metal-and-glass home was shipped to and reassembled in California, where the dry climate of Palm Springs and the stewardship of the museum should increase the potential for the preservation of the historic structure.

Marmol said that the complete original structure was used in the reassembly, as well as the original steel framed door.

However, the aluminium siding was not the original and not specified in the original design, so new cladding was fabricated. Cooling systems were also added to equip the home for the desert heat.

The interior floor plans were put in place with finishes and hardware, except the kitchen and bathrooms.

According to Marmol, the state of the materials in the container was remarkable given that the steel is almost a hundred years old.

"I think it speaks to the true historical significance of the artifact," said Marmol. "It's a home that began as an exhibition, and it is now being reassembled in its final resting place as an exhibition to continue the conversation around modernism."

The Palm Springs Art Museum said Aluminaire House is both one of the "first examples of modern architectural design in the United States" and the country's "first all-metal house".

The house was originally built as part of a 1931 exhibition by the Architectural League of New York. After the exposition, the house was purchased by architect Wallace K Harrison, who moved it to his property. The property changed hands multiple times and additions to the original design, including enclosing the top floor, were made.

In the 1980s the house was saved from demolition through the initiative of a group of activists, including architecture critic Paul Goldberger.

The home was then moved from Harrison's former estate to NYIT's School of Architecture and Design Central Islip campus on Long Island and reassembled there to more closely match the original design.

After NYIT moved its facilities from Islip, the house was sold to the Aluminaire House Foundation, which deconstructed it and stored it in a shipping container.

An idea to preserve the house in the context of Frey's extensive work in Palm Springs was introduced in 2016, and a collection of local architectural organizations moved to put a plan into action, including Palm Springs Modernism Week, an organisation that promotes modernist architecture there.

On March 23rd the restored house opens to the public as part of the museum's Albert Frey Collection, which includes the architect's final home, Frey House II.

"The museum now holds his final house and his first house on US soil," said Marmol.

Visitors will be able to see the exterior of the home, but Marmol added that the building could not be brought up to code for interior access without "significantly changing" the design.

The photography is by Guillaume Goureau, courtesy of Palm Springs Art Museum.

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Development firm Related Companies has announced plans to expand the program of Hudson Yards with a series of buildings including supertall skyscrapers and a casino.

In partnership with Wynn Resorts, the developer submitted proposals to the city for the project in February and last week released a series of renderings showing what the potential skyscrapers may look like.

Renderings show three skyscrapers on the site directly west of the current Hudson Yards development, which recently saw the completion of a BIG-designed skyscraper.

According to the documents submitted to the city, the tallest of the skyscrapers may have be 80 storeys with a height of 1,172 feet (357 metres), making it a supertall skyscraper.

The skyscrapers would occupy the site of a railyard between 12th and 11th Avenue and 30th and 33rd Street, with more than six million square feet (557,418 square metres) of total development.

The construction would be oriented towards both commercial and residential purposes and the plans show allotments made for a school within the development.

A 5.6-acre park would be included on the site.

"The space will be designed with the specific needs and input of community stakeholders with programming and areas for residents and their pets to embrace," said Related Companies.

"As the single largest investment ever to be made in the local communities of Chelsea, Hudson Yards, Hell's Kitchen and the entire West Side, the project has been designed to enhance the neighborhood and maximize benefit to residents and the surrounding community."

No architecture studios have been announced for the buildings, though Wynn Resorts, known for its Las Vegas casinos, has an in-house design team.

The developers submitted two different planning scenarios, the first is shown in the renderings, while the second would break the massing of one of the taller towers into a series of smaller ones.

American architecture studio KPF created the master plan for the first phase of the development but told Dezeen that it is not currently involved with the expansion plans.

Along with the application for building, the developers applied for a gaming license, which has to be approved separately.

Hudson Yards phase one took place over a decade and includes towers by architecture studios including KPF, BIG and Foster+Partners. It also includes the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Vessel, which closed following a series of suicides.

Last year, Matt Shaw wrote in an opinion for Dezeen that the Vessel is an "embodiment of the ideology" of Hudson Yards and its developers which "see people as numbers on a spreadsheet: faceless masses of potential consumers ripe for data extraction".

Other large-scale projects with plans to acquire gaming licenses include the BIG-designed Freedom Plaza on the East River that may feature a skyscraper with a cantilevered sky bridge and a museum dedicated to democracy.

The images are courtesy of Related Companies/Wynn Resorts.

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Chinese architecture studio MAD has unveiled its design for the Lishui Airport in China, which will feature a swooping white roof informed by soaring birds.

Perched on a hilly terrain 15 kilometres outside the city centre, the domestic airport will be the first to service the city of Lishui.

A swooping roof rising up to almost 24 metres will cascade over the 12,100-square-metre airport, created for an expected one million annual passengers.

MAD said it designed Lishui Airport as a "spiritual landmark" for the city.

"Covering 2,267 hectares of land with a maximum fill height difference of nearly one hundred meters, the airport adopts a large silver-white overhanging roof resembling a white-feathered bird ready to soar," said MAD.

"The bird-like form absorbs the elevation changes and merges the airport into the mountains, making the airport a spiritual landmark in the region."

Located in China's southwest Zhejiang Province, MAD also drew on the surrounding mountain landscape for the design.

"The planning and design try to respect the original site while ensuring accessibility, highlighting the characteristics of a mountain airport, and aiming to inspire tourism," said MAD.

"Lishui is a garden city, and her airport should also be in a garden," added studio founder Ma Yansong.

"As a municipal airport, Lishui Airport embodies the essence of transportation facilities as a public space, prioritising convenience, human scale, and city identity over sheer size and extravagance."

The airport will have a curved interior finished in wood, with an elongated leaf-shaped skylight that will rise from the centre of the building to let natural light in.

It will be spread over two levels designed to optimise passenger movement. Departure spaces will be located on the ground floor with waiting areas on the mezzanine first floor, and the airport will also feature a sunken car park.

Construction on Lishui Airport is underway and it is expected to be completed at the end of 2024.

Elsewhere in China, MAD completed the revamp of a sunken train station in Jiaxing and released its design for an arts centre on the waterfront in Guangdong.

Images are courtesy of MAD.

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Architecture studio Adjaye Associates has announced a new leadership structure, eight months after the studio lost numerous projects in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against its founder.

The studio named Kofi Bio, Lucy Tilley and Pascale Sablan as CEOs of its Accra, London, and New York studios, with founder David Adjaye becoming executive chair of the group.

"Each will have sole executive leadership of the studios, in charge of all operations, whilst continuing to lead projects and business development," Adjaye Associates said.

David Adjaye will continue leading studio's "design direction"

Adjaye will remain as Adjaye Associates' principal architect and will "continue to lead Adjaye Associates' design direction".

The architect said the change in management was the result of "professional advice" over the past six months and that the time was right to devolve the studio's management.

"Today's announcement reflects a fundamental change in the way Adjaye Associates will now be run," he said. "Over the last six months I have been taking professional advice on how to best reflect the firm's considerable evolution over the last five years."

"Whilst I will continue to lead the design direction of my firm, it is now the right time to devolve the management of the studios," he continued.

"Kofi, Lucy, and Pascale are exceptional leaders whose diverse perspectives and capabilities will give us the platform to succeed in our next chapter.”

Reshuffle follows sexual assault allegations

Adjaye was accused of sexual assault and harassment by three former employees in 2023, with allegations detailed in British newspaper the Financial Times. He denies the allegations.

"I absolutely reject any claims of sexual misconduct, abuse or criminal wrongdoing," Adjaye told the FT. "These allegations are untrue, distressing for me and my family and run counter to everything I stand for."

In the fallout from the allegations, multiple projects by the studio were cancelled, including a campus for The Africa Institute and Adjaye's design for the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool.

The photo is by Ed Reeve.

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Architecture group Architects for Gaza has launched the Gaza Global University to offer free education to architecture students impacted by the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Architects for Gaza (AFG), which is led by architects and University of Westminster educators Nasser Golzari and Yara Sharif, revealed it was establishing Gaza Global University earlier this month.

AFG plans to use Gaza Global University as a platform to provide free education to architecture students in Gaza who cannot continue their studies due to the ongoing conflict.

It follows many of the universities being destroyed or damaged in the Gaza Strip, including Israa University, which was blown up in an explosion in January.

"Gaza Global University is a call for academic support"

In its announcement establishing Gaza Global University, AFG asked for architecture professionals and educators to offer help with funding and delivering tutorials.

"Gaza Global University is a call for academic support for students and academic staff in Gaza," Sharif told Dezeen.

"It invites academics, professionals and students to show interest in the principle and hopes to offer some assistance for students of different specialities and facilitate the conclusion of their studies."

Sharif and Golzari founded AFG in November last year amid continued attacks on Gaza by Israel, which were carried out following a major assault by Hamas militants on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The group published an online statement calling for immediate action to rebuild Gaza, which was signed by over 1,200 people.

Signatories include Lesley Lokko and Angela Brady

In the statement, AFG condemned the "spacio-cidal violence" and demanded a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The list of signatories include former RIBA president Angela Brady, Scottish architect Kate Macintosh, architect Sean Griffiths, educator Lesley Lokko, architectural historian Jane Rendell and educator Shumi Bose.

Since launching, AFG has grown to include around three hundred architects, planners and environmentalists, mainly based in the UK, who want to offer help and support to Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Gaza Global University is not currently accredited, but is seeking ways to offer courses validated by the Palestinian Ministry of Education. The platform is led by architects Nishat Awan, Shumi Bose and Samir Pandya.

It plans to provide teaching online and through "physical clusters", to those in Gaza studying architecture and architecture-related courses. In the future it aims to expand its offering to all of Palestine.

"Considering the extensive destruction of many Gazan educational buildings and institutions, we are setting up interdisciplinary clusters to enable local students to continue their education in whatever form possible," AFG said.

"We may not be able to provide immediate responses to all needs, but we are committed to (re)building for the future."

Half of buildings in Gaza destroyed or damaged

On 30 January it was reported that at least half of the buildings in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged in the conflict.

Much of the population in the Gaza Strip has been forced to flee their homes. Around 1.7 million Palestinians are taking refuge in emergency shelters or informal sites.

Alongside establishing the Gaza Global University, AFG is developing other strategies to help rebuild Gaza, including a mobile health clinic and a self-build prototype that utilises rebars, clay and rubble.

"Currently, the plan for rebuilding includes looking at the urban neighbourhood-scale principles of reconstruction, addressing some key questions related to the right to the city, right to resources, right to a home and also the right to a landscape that involves people's memory, culture and rituals," said Sharif.

"Our approach goes beyond 'shelter' or temporary accommodation, calling for Gaza's right to be rebuilt and challenging the urbicide that is going on."

The photography is by Emad El Byed on Unsplash. Comments have been turned off on this story due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter.

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This week on Dezeen, we revealed that the Legends Tower in Oklahoma – a 581-metre-high skyscraper set to be the tallest in the US – has secured the full funding needed for its construction.

According to reporting in local news outlet The Oklahoman, the supertall skyscraper is fully funded as of early March.

Designed for Oklahoma City, it is planned to be the tallest in the USA and would form the centre of the Boardwalk at Bricktown development. If built, it would be the fifth-tallest skyscraper in the world.

In other skyscraper news, California architecture studio Marmol Radziner completed The Beaudry, a black skyscraper that is now the tallest residential building in the state.

The 212-metre-high tower has a columned base reminiscent of mid-century American skyscrapers and contains 785 residential units.

In an opinion piece this week, we focused on another pair of California skyscrapers – the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza towers. Author Shane Reiner-Roth argued that the graffiti that now covers them is a physical manifestation of increasing tensions over the wealth disparities that blight downtown Los Angeles.

This week also saw a video showing the progress on The Line, a mega city that will stretch 170 kilometres across Saudi Arabia as part of Neom.

The video shows the site being cleared and prepared for the foundations and piling. The city is planned to consist of a pair of parallel skyscrapers that will each be 500 metres high, with this first phase set to be completed by 2030.

As part of our Social Housing Revival series, which continued this week, we took a closer look at two social housing blocks – the Bourne Estate in central London by Matthew Lloyd Architects and Caserne de Reilly in Paris where  a 19th-century barracks was transformed into affordable homes.

We also showcased photographer Thaddeus Zupančič's book London Estates from which he picked the 10 most influential examples of modernist council housing built in the UK capital in the post-war period.

In architecture news this week, the world's largest museum was captured ahead of its opening in Egypt. Called Grand Egyptian Museum, the 90,000-square-metre building was designed by Dublin studio Heneghan Peng Architects and will house more than 100,000 pharaonic artefacts from Ancient Egypt.

Also revealed were British studio Zaha Hadid Architects' plans for the Al Khuwair waterfront development in Muscat, Oman, which will include canal walkways and have a design "emphasising climate resilience".

In design, Fashion brand Coperni unveiled Air Swipe, a bag made out of 99 per cent air. Made from NASA-produced silica aerogel the lightweight bag was unveiled at Coperni's F/W 2024 runway show during Paris Fashion Week.

Its creator Ioannis Michaloudis told Dezeen: "it can withstand three times the speed of a bullet. And that's why [NASA] has selected the material to catch stardust."

Popular projects this week include an American coastal house designed to blend in with its forest setting, a Swedish retreat informed by Japanese temples and an Indian arts space with a flowing concrete form.

Our latest lookbooks featured living spaces with swings and interiors with aesthetic lamps.

This week on Dezeen

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Amphitheatre-like seating will be introduced to the courtyard at the Danish parliament in Copenhagen as part of a wider overhaul by architecture studios Cobe, Arcgency and Drachmann Arkitekter.

The revamp is set to open up the government complex to the public and establish it as "an accessible and inviting meeting place where everyone can experience democracy up close", Cobe said.

"As architects, there is not a more inspiring task than being allowed to work with the physical framework for our democracy," said Cobe founder Dan Stubbergaard.

"Through this project, we aim to showcase the uniqueness of Danish democracy, making it open and accessible for everyone – yet still efficient, safe and secure, and to invite us all further inside its buildings, into the heart of parliamentary work, creating a democratic meeting place for all."

The design by Cobe, Arcgency and Drachmann Arkitekter was the winning entry of a competition and is being developed with engineering firm Sweco.

According to the team, it takes cues from "the Tingsted" – an ancient Nordic outdoor gathering space for debate. This will be most evident in the courtyard, which will be updated with a cylindrical, sunken visitor entrance with amphitheatre-like seating.

"The courtyard is the setting for everyday life at the parliament – demonstrations, public speeches, media interviews and much more," said Cobe.

"The new amphitheater stairs are a place for gathering and observing the dynamic daily life of the square, meeting up before or after a visit, and a natural collection point for a group introduction to the Danish parliament."

At the foot of the steps will be a single tree, named The People's Tree, which is intended as a symbol of "the roots of democracy".

From the entrance, visitors will be led into an underground visitor centre between existing parliament buildings. These include the historic Christiansborg Palace – which houses the Danish parliament, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of State – and buildings previously occupied by the Danish National Archive – the archive-holding organisation for the country's authorities.

This underground space will be characterised by bright rooms with archways, including an exhibition space dedicated to democracy.

The existing buildings on the site will be transformed into contemporary facilities and offices for parliament members, in addition to a restaurant and further exhibition spaces.

"The project marks the largest construction undertaking at the Danish parliament since the reconstruction of Christiansborg Palace in 1928," said Cobe.

"Given the historical significance of Christiansborg Palace and the buildings of the National Archive, the project requires a careful and deliberate restoration and transformation process."

Cobe was founded in 2006 by Stubbergaard. Its other recent projects include an atomic-science research facility in Lund and The Opera Park in its hometown of Copenhagen.

Other upcoming government buildings include the Benin parliament, which Kéré Architecture is modelling on an African palaver tree, and Cheongju New City Hall in South Korea by Snøhetta.

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